Harness: Elitloppet final won by Hohneck in record time

French stallion Hohneck grabbed control of the front-end at the quarter and never looked back, winning the Elitloppet final on Sunday at Solvalla Racecourse in Sweden. The time of 1.08.8 (mile rate of 1:50 3/5) was a new record for the second heat.

Defending champion Etonnant (Anthony Barrier) and pre-race favorite San Moteur (Björn Goop) won the eliminations earlier on the card and lined up from posts two and three in the final, with Hoheck (Gabriele Gelormini) starting from the pole position.

It would be Önas Prince (Per Nordström) who led in the early stages of the final, but Gelormini had Hohneck out and on the move from the pocket on the first turn and took the lead before they entered the stretch for the first time. San Moteur was guided first-over from fourth with about half a mile to go and was followed by Etonnant, but San Moteur stalled out in third on the rim as Hohneck continued to show the way.

San Moteur was finally able to get into second turning for home and had shown an explosive closing kick in his elimination, but there was no catching Hohneck, as he kept clear and Gelormini tossed his whip in the air as he crossed the wire. San Moteur wound up dead-heating for the runner-up spot with Go On Boy (Romain Derieux). Önas Prince checked in fourth, and Etonnant, who went off-stride briefly in the stretch, ended up fifth.

Dexter Dunn and Ake Svanstedt both made the final with their respective horses, Stoletheshow and Hail Mary, but neither were a factor, finishing seventh and eighth.

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A 6-year-old stallion by Royal Dream, Hohneck is owned by trainer Philippe Allaire. This was his 20th career victory, and he has now earned over US$1.96 million.

"Three days ago he said to some of his friends that 'I'm going to bring back the prize,' but after the first elimination I had to see my horse again and think about the strategy," Allaire said via translator. "He raced without shoes, and we changed the bike to a shorter bike. My horse was very, very cool for the final. In the first heat, he didn't concentrate.

"I wanted post one. My horse behind the gate, he's very, very strong. I'm very proud. I believe I can fly."

On the undercard, Muscle Mass colt Epsom As won the Group 1 Håkan Wallner Memorial for 3-year-olds, Double Deceiver, last year's Matron champion and Breeders Crown/Yonkers Trot runner-up, took the 4-year-old Elite Race for males, and Joviality S, 2022's Dan Patch Award winner for top 3-year-old trotting filly, came in second to French invader Jazzy Perrine in the companion Elite Race for 4-year-old mares.

--thanks to Edison Hatter for the post-race interview with Allaire--