The 2022 edition of Sweden’s signature race Elitloppet, run at Stockholm's Solvalla Raceway, will mark the 70th renewal of one of the four Grand Slam races in the UET Master Series, which also includes the Prix d’Amerique, Lotteria and Oslo Grand Prix.

And, the winner of next year’s Elitloppet will receive a record purse of almost $US550,000.

The total stakemoney of nearly $US 1.2 million is $US100,000 more than the time-honoured USA Hambletonian, which has a total purse of $US1.1 million.

The stake for the Elitloppet is also higher than the 2022 Prix d’Amerique. which carries a total stake of $US1.13 million, with the winner receiving $510,000.

One of the most prestigious international events in trotting, the Elitloppet is decided through two qualifying rounds and a final on the same day, all over the metric mile.

There are four races that provide the winner an invitation to the Elitloppet. They are:

  • Olympic Trot: Run at Aby, Sweden, over 2140 metres with 1.5 million Swedish Kroner to the winner
  • Finlandia AJO: Run at Vermo, Finland, over 1620 metres with 110,000 euro to the winner
  • Meadow Road: Run at Solvalla, Sweden, over 1640 metres with 100,000 SEK to the winner
  • HKH Prins Daniels: Run at Gavle, Sweden, over 1609 metres with 400,000 SEK to the winner

Travrronden spokesman Dennis Engelbo said: “All horses are eligible for the Elitloppet. It all ends up if Solvalla’s general manager of Racing, Anders Malmrot, believes that a horse is competitive enough and that the trainer and horse have a clean record.”

Engelbo stated that “the French trainer Sebastien Guarato has been positive to racing the amazing Face Time Bourbon in the 2022 Elitloppet. Malmrot has tried to attract the people around the horse to race in the Elitloppet before, without any success. This might be the year though.”

The winners of previous editions of the Elitloppet reads like a who’s who of international trotting. The list includes the Italian champion Varenne (2001 and 2002), the French superstar Coktail Jet (1990), the mighty American mares Peace Corps (1991) and Moni Maker (1998), the crack American stallions Mack Lobell (1988 and 1990) and Meadow Road (1985) and the legendary French mare Roquepine (1966 and 1967).

The Elitloppet will be raced at Solvalla on Sunday, May 29, 2022.

  • Timoko, winner of the Elitloppet in 2014 and 2017, sired Etonnant, the record-breaking winner of the Prix du Bourbonnais at Vincennes, Paris last Sunday afternoon. The mile rate of 1:54.4 sliced 1.8 seconds off the previous record.

The Prix du Bourbonnais is the second qualification race for next month’s Prix d’Amerique.