Double Deceiver, bred by Steve Stewart and Oakwood Farms, won the top stakes race at Solvalla on the eve of today’s Elitloppet.
by Thomas Hedlund
With three elimination heats and a final, the $120,000 Sweden Cup turned into one of the highlights of Saturday’s (May 30) racing card at Solvalla.
Defending champion Double Deceiver, bred in the U.S. by Steve Stewart and Oakwood Farms, captured the first elimination in impressive front-running fashion for Örjan Kihlström, while the second division produced an upset as Dutch raider Novato led every step of the way for Dion Tesselaar. The third elimination also went gate-to-wire, this time courtesy of Finnish-trained Need’Em.
In the Sweden Cup final, Double Deceiver (Cantab Hall—Sarcy) was forced to work considerably harder than in his elimination to defend the lead, and the pace never relented after the opening quarter. The field reached the half-mile in a blistering :54.2.
The fierce tempo was largely due to Hades de Vandel, who was parked three-wide after being challenged by the aggressive Savastano, whom Adrian Kolgjini had sent first-over already in the opening turn. Hades de Vandel remained stranded on the outside while Antonio Di Nardo searched for racing room behind Working Class Hero, launching his move entering the final turn.
Savastano was spent turning for home, and at that point Dion Tesselaar elected to pull Novato (Maharajah) from the pocket in an attempt to overhaul the leader. The move cost him dearly.
Meanwhile, Dexter Dunn demonstrated exactly why he is considered one of the world’s premier drivers. Starting from post 8 with Crown (Chapter Seven), he secured a trip in third along the rail and simply waited for the stretch. With racing room finally appearing, Crown surged late for second in the final strides. Novato faded to fourth, while Working Class Hero (Village Mystic) held well for third.
The winning time of 1:50.3 established a new Sweden Cup final record. The previous mark of 1:51.2 had been shared by Bengurion Jet and Volstead, while Always Ek won an elimination in 1:50.2 in 2024.
“He was like a tiger today,” said Kihlström. “It’s not easy to open in 1:08 for the first kilometer, but he was incredibly eager. This was a tremendous performance. Had the pace remained strong all the way, he would have gone even faster. I actually slowed things down quite a bit in the final turn because I only feared the horse sitting in behind us. He’s extremely quick.”
Double Deceiver was purchased by Stall Zet for $500,000 at the 2022 Harrisburg Sale.
At the time, he had compiled a record of 25 starts, 11 wins, eight seconds, and one third, including victories in the Matron Stakes ($143,950), three legs of the Kentucky Championship Series ($80,000), a division of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes ($43,000), a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes division ($66,544), and a Breeders Crown elimination (C$33,750). He was also runner-up in the Yonkers Trot behind Joviality. One of his Kentucky Championship Series victories came in 1:50.2, just one-fifth-of-a-second off the world record for 3-year-old geldings.
As a yearling, Double Deceiver sold for just $17,000 in Lexington. He is out of Sarcy (Donato Hanover), 1:10.3 ($261,333), who was trained by Jimmy Takter. Sarcy is also the dam of Hambletonian winner Tactical Approach (Tactical Landing), 1:08.4 ($1,544,489), winner of the Hambletonian, Breeders Crown, and Kentucky Futurity. The family also includes Menhammar-owned Dutiful (Trixton), 1:10.3 ($96,796).
Second dam Southwind Allaire (Valley Victory), 1:10.7 ($876,199), was also trained by Jimmy Takter and captured both the Hambletonian Oaks and the Elegantimage Stakes.
UNREAL PERFORMANCE IN HARPER HANOVER TROT
The Harper Hanover Trot, contested over three laps at Solvalla, is traditionally one of the marquee events on Elitlopp Saturday, and this year it appeared perfectly set up for a Swedish victory.
Defending champion Inmarosa represented France but started from a 40-meter handicap behind Gaining Experience, Timo Nurmos’ emerging star. Entering the race with only nine career starts — eight of them victories — the 5-year-old was facing world-class competition over a marathon distance.
Björn Goop sent Gaining Experience to the lead early and controlled the race throughout at a steady 2:00 mile-rate pace. What followed was nothing short of astonishing.
The son of Readly Express exploded away from the field 400 meters from the wire, and Goop was already celebrating wildly with 150 meters remaining.
Ten starts. Nine wins. Another $100,000 added to the bankroll.
The final time over 3,140 meters was an eye-popping 1:56.2 mile rate.
An almost unbelievable performance from a lightly raced 5-year-old with so little experience. Invitations to the world’s biggest races should already be on their way.
GOCCIADORO WINS WITH THE OTHER ONE
Alessandro Gocciadoro sent out the heavy favorite Clarissa in the opening V85 event on Elitlopp Saturday, the $100,000 Joviality’s Race, carrying a first prize of 500,000 SEK.
And yes, Gocciadoro won the race.
Just not with Clarissa.
After drawing post 8, Clarissa was left parked three-wide through much of the opening stages. Meanwhile, stablemate Celiaz (Varenne) secured the lead and never looked back.
From his seat behind Clarissa, Gocciadoro could only watch as his other mare powered to victory in 1:52.1.
ELITLOPPET GOES THIS MORNING
The $1 million Elitlopp will be contested this morning (May 31) in two heats and a final.
The program can be downloaded here.
The race should be watchable in North America here.
The first heat is scheduled for 3:35 p.m. Stockholm time
(9:35 a.m. ET).
The second heat will go at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. ET)
The final will go to post at 5:45 p.m. (11:45 a.m. ET).
ELITLOPPET 2026
Elimination 1
PP — Horse (Sire) — Driver — Trainer
1. Luke The Spook (Greenshoe) — Adrian Kolgjini
2. Diva Ek (Trixton) — Alessandro Gocciadoro
3. Charron (Code Bon) — Magnus Teien Gundersen — Geir Vegard Gundersen
4. Don Fanucci Zet (Hard Livin) — Paul-Philippe Ploquin — Daniel Redén
5. Idao de Tillard (Severino) — Clément Duvaldestin — Thierry Duvaldestin
6. Dream Mine (Maharajah) — Mats E. Djuse — Jörgen Westholm
7. Keep Going (Follow You) — Mathieu Mottier
8. Borups Victory (Googoo Gaagaa) — Daniel Wäjersten
Elimination 2
PP — Horse (Sire) — Driver — Trainer
1. Gio Cash (Victor Gio) — Dexter Dunn — Daniel Wäjersten
2. Allegiant (Tactical Landing) — Örjan Kihlström — Daniel Redén
3. Jabalpur (Booster Winner) — Gabriele Gelormini — Alain Chavatte
4. Fine Manners (Chocolatier) — Magnus A Djuse — Mattias Djuse
5. Go On Boy (Password) — Romain Derieux
6. A Fair Day (Maharajah) — Oscar Ginman — Elisabeth Almheden
7. Inexess Bleu (Vittel de Brevol) — Alexandre Abrivard — Laurent-Claude Abrivard
8. Jobspost (Readly Express) — Björn Goop — Jörgen Westholm