Via invitations or qualifying races. 3 year-olds and up
Purse
≈US$326,000
Olympiatravet (literally "The Olympic Trot") is an annual Group Oneharness event for trotters that is held at Åby Racetrack in Mölndal, 10 km south of Gothenburg, Sweden.[1] The event was carried through for the first time in 1979.[2] In 2009, the purse of the final was approximately US$326,000 (SEK2,750,000).[3]
Collaboration with the Swedish olympic movement
Olympiatravet is arranged by the Swedish Horse Racing Totalisator Board, ATG, together with The Swedish Olympic Committee, SOC. The Swedish olympic movement receives a share of the money gambled on the event. 90% of this share is kept by SOC, while the remaining 10% is given to Sveriges Handikappsförbund (SHIF) and athletes competing in the Paralympics. In total, Olympiatravet has brought the olympic movement over US$27 million (over SEK163 million), and in 2008 alone the amount was ≈US$1,767,000 (SEK10,500,000).[4] In 2009, another SEK 10,340,000 was handed over to SOC (SEK9.4 million) and SHIF (SEK940,000).[5]
In order to honour the winners, through the years, olympic athletes have visited the Olympiatravet Day as well as the tracks and days of the qualifying races. The winners in 2009, Triton Sund and his connections, were celebrated by, among others, olympic gold medalists Team Anette Norberg (curling) as well as cross-country skiing star Charlotte Kalla.[5]
Racing conditions
The ten contestants can make the final in three ways - through qualifying races, via an invitation or by being the reigning champion of the event.[6] To race in the final, and thus both to enter the qualifying races and to come in contention for invitations, a horse must be of age three or above.[3]
In 2009, three qualifying races were carried out. The winners and runners-up of these races were awarded starts in Olympiatravet's final. The winner of Rommeheatet, a race a week before the Olympiatravet final, was also awarded a place in the final. To fill up the rest of the ten places in the final, Åby invites horses and offers them wild cards. In 2009, four such wild cards were handed out.[7]
Starting method and distance
With the exceptions of 1980 and 1982, a motorized starting gate has been used to launch the race since the event began in 1979. The distance has always been 2,140 meters.[2]
Location
The venue varied during the first years. The first Olympiatravet was held at Jägersro. The following editions were raced at either Solvalla (1980 and 1984) or Åby (1982), before the latter racetrack became the permanent host as from 1985.[2]
The 2009 Olympiatravet
The final lap of Olympiatravet 2009.
From the three regular Olympiatravet qualification races, five horses progressed to the final: Colombian Necktie, Dig For Dollars, Global Investment, Torvald Palema and Triton Sund. Finders Keepers won the extra qualification race, Rommeheatet. The four wild cards were given to French duo Oiseau de Feux and L'Amiral Mauzun, as well as Garland Kronos and Adams Hall.[7][8] Swedish trainer Åke Svanstedt thus had three contenders in the race, three horses that won him a treble in the 2008 Olympiatravet: Adams Hall (2nd in 2008), Finders Keepers (3rd) and Torvald Palema (winner).[9]
In the first starting attempt, L'Amiral Mauzun had a mishap to his equipment. The horse started to scamper uncontrollably, and the attempt was called off. The French horse ran for almost 2,000 meters before he finally settled down. The veterinarian at Åby took the decision to take the French horse out of the race.[10]
The second starting attempt was successful. French Oiseau de Feux went to the front and kept a high pace (500m: 1:08.3 (km rate), 1000m: 1:10.0 (km rate)). He was followed by Torvald Palema, Colombian Necktie and Finders Keepers on the rail. On the outside, Garland Kronos was first, with Global Investment, Triton Sund and Dig For Dollars following him. Adams Hall was, after initially going off-stride, last. With approximately 700 meters to go, Triton Sund started to advance. He made good progress, and down the stretch, Triton Sund and Oiseau de Feux fought for the title. The Swedish stallion managed to win by a neck. Oiseau de Feux had a safe margin to Torvald Palema, who came in third, in front of Colombian Necktie and Adams Hall, who grabbed the last places in the money. Triton Sund was timed in 1:11.1/2,140m (km rate), which equalled the world record mark for middle distance races run on 1,000 meter tracks, a record set by French Jag de Bellouet in 2006.[11]
The 2009 Olympiatravet attendance of 17,401 meant a new record attendance for Åby Racetrack.[5]
