by Karsten Bonsdorf, USTA web newsroom correspondent

The Swedish trotter Torvald Palema, who won the prestigious 2009 Elitlopp at Solvalla, returned to racing Thursday night (March 18) at Aby in Gothenburg with a win.

Kanal 75 photo

Torvald Palema was a winner on Thursday at Aby.

Although only six trotters lined up behind the gate in the 1-5/16th mile event, Torvald Palema managed to get boxed in and with a quarter-mile to go, things didn’t look bright for the 10/11 favorite.

However driver Ake Svanstedt managed to find an open spot and Torvald Palema finished strongly, winning in a mere 2:01.2f (mile rate).

“At a time I felt we wouldn’t be able to win, but as soon as we got racing room he exploded and the win was very easy,” Svanstedt said.

Torvald Palema will race again on Saturday, March 27, at Jägersro in a qualifying race for the first big international race in Sweden in 2010, The Olympic Trot.

Positive test for top Swedish trainer

For the first time ever a trotter from the stable of the living legend, trainer Stig H. Johansson of Sweden, tested positive.

It’s the mare Bobtail, who after a win at Axevalla on February 27 tested positive for Procaine. Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is used primarily to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin.

“I’m easy on the subject, though I know that a responsible trainer can be fined. But we’re going to try to sort out how this medication got into the horse. Bobtail hasn’t been treated with any antibiotics for a very long time, so it’s a mystery,” Johansson says.

Over the years more than 2,000 tests have been taken from trotters in the care of Johansson — all negative — until Bobtail.

The B-test has been sent to a lab in France for new testing.

Meaulnes du Corta has problems

Will he or will he not go abroad, that was the question earlier this week regarding top French trotter Meaulnes du Corta.

Big race promoters — especially from Scandinavia — are very eager to present the 10-year-old trotter, who last Sunday won the second race in the European Grand Circuit, the Grand Criterium de Vitesse.

But now it seems a sore hind leg will keep Meaulnes du Corta away from the racetrack for a while. And further, Meaulnes du Corta is still busy at stud, so the chances that he will be able to race in Norway, Sweden or Finland this spring are not very good at present.