Harness: Etonnant overcomes breaking stride to prevail in Elitloppet

In a wild Elitloppet final that saw half of the eight starters go off-stride, one of the horses that made a break, Etonnant, overcame his miscue to win. The final time was 1.09.3, a mile rate of between 1:51 2/5 and 1:51 3/5.

The stage was set for the final after two eliminations. Don Fanucci Zet, the defending Elitloppet champion, won the first one for driver Örjan Kihlström and trainer Daniel Redén despite being first-over throughout from post eight, and Mister F. Daag, steered by Robin Bakker for trainer Paul Hagoort, turned a third-over trip into a victory in the second one. Both races went in 1.09.1 (mile rate of 1:51 1/5).

Don Fanucci Zet was favored from post one in the final, but as the starting gate accelerated away he broke stride, taking him out of contention. That left Click Bait (Ulf Ohlsson) on the lead, Mister F Daag in the pocket, and Hail Mary (Erik Adielsson) first-over. Coming in front of the stands for the first time, Vivid Wise AS (Mathieu Abrivard) swung out three-wide from third-over, with Etonnant (Anthony Barrier) tracking that move. As they raced through the second turn, Etonnant broke stride briefly, but he was able to get back on the trot and quickly caught the pack.

Vivid Wise AS's three-wide brush carried him around Hail Mary and into the first-up position entering the backstretch for the final time, but Click Bait managed to hold Vivid Wise AS off through the straight and onto the far turn. Meanwhile, Per Nordström sent Önas Prince three-wide from third-over and Etonnant again followed him before going even wider on the bend.

Önas Prince would become the next breaker while looming three-wide on the turn. That gave space for Hail Mary to escape to the outside, and he would surge past the winded Click Bait and Vivid Wise AS to take the lead in the upper part of the stretch. However, it became obvious that Etonnant had the most trot while on the far outside, and he would kick past Hail Mary on his way to win by about a length and a half. Hail Mary held off an unlucky Mister F. Daag, who had to wait for clearance to angle out, for second. Vivid Wise AS was fourth, and Click Bait finished fifth. Rounding out the order were breakers Don Fanucci Zet, Önas Prince, and Night Brodde (Conrad Lugauer).

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"He made a mistake and I thought it was over, but it wasn't over," said trainer Richard Westerink, who won his third Elitloppet, as he was also the conditioner of Etonnant's sire Timoko, the 2014 and 2017 champion. "Timoko was very strong and very fast, and this one is very strong, too."

Etonnant, who is also owned by Westerink, has a record of 18-15-4 from 77 career starts, and he has now earned over $1.94 million.