Elitloppet

Elitloppet

Group One International race
2010 Elitloppet finish-line
Location	Solvalla Racetrack, ,  Sweden
Inaugurated	1952
Race type	Harness race for standardbred trotters
Website	elitloppet.se
Race information
Distance	1,609 meters (1 mile)
Track	Left-handed 1,000 meter track (0.62 mile)
Qualification	Invitational
Purse	≈US$892,000

Elitloppet (literally: "The Elite Race") or Solvallas Internationella Elitlopp is an annual, invitational Group One harness event that has taken place at Solvalla Racetrack in , Sweden since 1952. The competition is regarded as one of the most prestigious international events in trotting. The winner is decided through two qualifying rounds and a subsequent final later the same day. Both the eliminations and the final are raced over the mile. The overall purse for the 2012 event was SEK6,400,000, equalling approximately US$892,000. In 2002 the Italian champion Varenne, (considered the strongest trotter of all time), took it in a world record time of 1:10.4 in the elimination and then bested that mark by winning the final in 1:10.2 – the fastest mile ever trotted around three turns. The fastest winning time in a final is 1:09.5, run by the French Timoko in 2014. Elitloppet is part of the European Grand Circuit.

The first Elitloppet was run in 1952 under the name of Solvallas Jubileumslopp (approximately "Solvalla's Jubilee Race"). Winner the opening year was the German horse Permit. The following year, the event changed name to Elitloppet.

In Elitloppet 2006, French star trotter Jag de Bellouet won in a record time of 1:09,4 (km rate), with Italian Lets Go in second place. At a press conference a few weeks after the Elitloppet Day, it was announced that both horses had been disqualified due to positive doping tests. Jag de Bellouet and Lets Go tested positive for diclofenac and etacrynic acid, respectively. After the disqualifications, Swedish Conny Nobell was announced the official winner of the 2006 event. The general secretary in the Swedish Trotting Association (STC), Ulf Hörnberg, expressed that the double disqualifications was a "tragedy" for the event.

In 1952-1958 and in 1973, Elitloppet was decided through two heats followed by a race-off if not one and the same horse won both heats. In 1959-1961, when a longer distance was trotted, only a single race was run. Since 1962 (with the exception of 1973), a concept of two eliminations and one final has been used. The number of horses in the eliminations has varied from seven to twelve during these years, but there have always been eight trotters in the final.