by Karsten Bønsdorf, USTA Newsroom Senior Correspondent

A month after his very convincing victory in the Sprintermästaren at Halmstad, Uncle Lasse, driven by Ôrjan Kihlström, returned to action at Solvalla and won very easily.

Kanal 75 photo

Uncle Lasse was a winner again at Solvalla.

Kihlström directed Uncle Lasse to the front early in the race and stayed on to win in a hand drive, timed in 1:56f (mile rate) for a distance of 1-5/16th miles.

Four out of the eight trotters who raced, which was the sixth leg in the Solvalla Series, were born and raised in North America.

Workout Wonder finished second, a length behind, while Divisionist was third. French Laundry, who like Uncle Lasse is owned and trained by Stefan Melander, finished just out of the money with Melander in the bike.

Melander’s top trotter Nuncio should have raced in the Victory Tilly Trophy, but was found to run a temperature before heading for Solvalla and was a non-starter. The race was won by another North American-bred trotter, Explosive De Vie, driven by Jim Oscarsson.

In France the first race for 2-year-old trotters, the E-crop, was raced at the Les Sable d’Olonne track, near the Atlantic coast. Trainer Phillippe Allaire dominated the races for the D-crop (born 2013) as he sent out no less than 91 winners since Aug. 1, 2015 and to date will probably dominate the races for the E-crop too.

Elegantissime, a filly sired by Ready Cash, won in a photo finish driven by Jean Philippe Monclin over Esprit Pierji, driven by Thierry Duvaldestin, while Allaire’s second string, Edson Perrine driven by J. Ruaults, finished third.

Elegantissime is a full sister to top trotter Brillantissime, who has a mark of 1:54.1 and earnings of close to $1 million.