Stockholm, Sweden – Within 50 minutes, 28-year-old driver Mats E. Djuse won Swedish harness racing’s two biggest races for 3-year-olds—first the Svenskt Trav-Oaks with Zeebreeze, a daughter of Gimpanzee trained by Daniel Wäjersten, and then the Svenskt Trav-Kriterium with Nanda Devi Cut, a son of Maharajah trained by his brother, Mattias Djuse.
It was only the second time in history that the same driver had won both major races, which carried purses of SEK 3 million (approximately US$300,000) for the Kriterium and SEK 2.25 million (approximately US$225,000) for the Oaks, respectively. The conversions use an exchange rate of approximately SEK 1 = US$0.10.
The first time was in 2024, when Daniel Wäjersten won both races as trainer and driver.
The victory marked a first in these premier 3-year-old classics for both brothers: Mattias Djuse as a trainer and Mats E. Djuse as a driver.
It was also a first for Swedish trotting sire champion Maharajah, whose offspring had never before won the Kriterium.
Maharajah himself won the race in 2008.
This year’s Swedish Kriterium winner, Nanda Devi Cut, was born and raised in France by Ecurie de Windcut, which still owns the colt.
His dam, Himalaya Cut, is a French-bred mare by Charly du Noyer, a son of Ready Cash.
Oaks winner Zeebreeze, bred and owned by Sweden’s SRF Stable, also traces her pedigree to Ready Cash.
Zeebreeze’s dam is by Ready Cash and is also a full sister to the top racehorse Readly Express, who as a sire produced the 2024 Kriterium winner, Bullet The Bluesky.
This marks the first time Gimpanzee has sired the winner of a classic harness race in Sweden.