The Swedish stakes race Sprintermästaren (also called The Swedish Hambletonian) was contested Thursday night (July 4) and was won by Tae Kwon Deo, a 4-year-old trotter sired by Muscle Hill and bred and raised at Deo Volente Farm in New Jersey.

Tae Kwon Deo with Adrian Kolgjini won the Sprintermästaren. Kanal 75 photo.

The Sprintermästaren at Halmstad in Southern Sweden is raced in the same format as the Hambletonian with eliminations and a final on the same day, but for 4-year-olds.

Tae Kown Deo, who was a $240,000 yearling and is trained by 26-year-old Adrian Kolgjini, who also was in the bike.

Tae Kwon Deo was second in his elimination but won the final, with a purse for the winner of $130,000, very easily in 1:54f. Second in the final was Pinto Bob, who Tae Kwon Deo finished second to in the elimination. In third place was another USA-bred, Evaluate, who was the pre-race favorite.

Tae Kwon Deo was raced as a 2-year-old in Sweden, where he won three races from five starts. As a 3-year-old he was sent to Jimmy Takter, with a dream to race him in the Hambletonian at The Meadowlands, but Tae Kwon Deo never showed his full potential in the United States and came back to Sweden.