Editor’s Note: The following story was published by the Swedish website Sulkysport.se

Today Solvalla came up with the fully awaited message that May’s Elitlopp will be run but without an audience. At the same time, the Sweden Cup is canceled and the winner of the Meadow Road race will be directly qualified for Elitlopp.

All Swedish trotting tracks have closed down their public facilities since March 12 and even Elitlopp will be run without any spectators, but there are still some question marks to be rectified.

“Elitlopp is an annual sporting highlight for many Swedes and we currently feel confident that we can conduct the competitions safely and responsibly,” says Solvalla’s CEO Jörgen Forsberg in a press release.

“Our decision is made with reservations so that the situation in our society does not worsen and that the conditions therefore change. At present, most things point to the fact that we can arrange Elitlopp weekend without a public. Of course, I hope that our fantastic audience can be there, but if the prevailing conditions prevent it, Elitlopp weekend will still be implemented. We will make a final decision on the public issue on May 4.”

“The biggest change during Elitlopp weekend is that the Sweden Cup is discontinued. We cannot count on the addition of foreign elite horses and therefore the horse base will not be enough to run both Sweden Cup and Elitlopp this year,” says Anders Malmrot, Sports Manager at Solvalla.

New for this year is also that the winner of the Meadow Road race on May 13 will be invited to Elitlopp. As announced earlier, the Paralympics Tournament final at the Åby Travet April 25 and Prince Daniel’s race at the Gävletravet May 23 are also included in the direct qualifying races.

There will also be reduced prize money in several races during Elitlopp weekend and this applies to Harper Hanover’s race and Montéliten. The first prize in Harper Hanover’s race will be half a million SEK and it is 400,000 SEK less than what was distributed last year. The Montélite goes from SEK 300,000 to SEK 200,000.

Elitlopp weekend will be held on May 29-31.