Stockholm, Sweden – Daniel Redén-trained Francesco Zet is the favorite for the Elitloppet at Solvalla later this month.
Today (May 2), he made his second start of the year, and in what was almost a paid training session costing $5,000, he jogged around the track at Rättvik with Ôrjan Kihlström in the sulky and won in 1:51.3f – the fastest time in Europe this year.
“I wanted to have him to trot be tired today in the race because he hasn’t run at these speeds, and 1600 meters isn’t his optimal distance. To win the Elitloppet, you have to be on point from the start, and he really needed this to get into shape, just like he did last year in Sundsvall. Running 1.51.3 here in Rättvik was great,” praised Daniel Redén after the victory.
“I’ve worked all winter to get him calm, and now he’s become very calm and phlegmatic. Last time, Örjan said he was running and waiting for the other horses. I’d rather have him responsive to the bit, but today I wanted to tell him to run, so I ‘removed’ the other horses so he wouldn’t hold back waiting for them. It was good that Örjan got to pull the earplugs too, so he could really go for it.”