Solvalla: World record for Allegiant in Elitlopp final
?q=100)
Allegiant became the fastest trotter in harness racing history when she won the final of the Elitlopp on Sunday at Solvalla Racecourse in Stockholm, Sweden, in a stunning 1.07.1, a mile rate of 1:48 flat. The 5-year-old Tactical Landing mare, driven by Örjan Kihlström for trainer Danel Redén, was a Dan Patch Award recipient in the United States when she was a 3-year-old and was bred by Atlantic Trot Inc. of Pompano Beach, Florida, and Steve and Cindy Stewart's Hunterton Farm of Paris, Kentucky.
The stage was set for the final with two eliminations that were won by 2021 Elitlopp champion Don Fanucci Zet (driven by Paul-Philippe Ploquin for trainer Daniel Redén) in 1.09.4 (mile rate of 1:51 3/5) and 2025 Elitlopp winner Go On Boy (driven by trainer Romain Derieux) in 1.08.7 (mile rate of 1:50 3/5). The draw for the final, from the rail out, was Don Fanucci Zet, Go On Boy, Jobspost, Dream Mine, Inexess Bleu, Diva Ek, Allegiant and Idao de Tillard.
In the final Kihlström launched Allegiant away from post seven and cleared the field with little dispute, putting stablemate Don Fanucci Zet and the rest behind her. Allegiant kept the tempo fast and none of the other horses were able to challenge her as she kept clear throughout and won by a couple of lengths over Dream Mine (Mats E. Djuse), who angled out of the three-hole on the last turn. Go On Boy closed well to get third after he got caught behind stalled cover of Jobspost, while Jobspost did keep plugging away on the outside to get fourth from Don Fanucci Zet.
"That was unreal actually. A horse really shouldn't keep that up as she did, but she was just amazing today, and it was just a fantastic performance," Kihlström said in an interview with Edison Hatter, noting the final was the first time Allegiant raced barefoot. "That was the plan. You never know what's going to happen, but she was really fast in the beginning. After that she went a little too fresh, so that's why the speed was too fast actually, but she was strong enough to keep it up any way."
► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter
The clocking of 1:48 lowered the previous all-time world record of 1:48 4/5 set by Homicide Hunter at The Red Mile in 2018, and this was Kihlström's fifth win in the Elitlopp, moving him past Johannes Frömming for the second-most all-time and now only behind Stig H. Johansson's six.
"It's just unbelievable. I can't really describe it," Kihlström added.
Eagle Rising AB own Allegiant and acquired her at the end of her 3-year-old campaign for $925,000 at the inaugural edition of the North American Standardbred Mixed Sale. She has won six of her seven starts in Sweden for Redén since she began racing there, with her only defeat coming in her elimination. Overall, she has a summary of 17-5-3 from 34 starts and has earned 17,458,646 kr ($1,886,392).