Trøndelag Travbane
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| Location | Leangen, Trondheim, Norway |
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| Owned by | Norwegian Trotting Association |
| Date opened | 5 September 1931 |
| Course type | Harness racing |
| Official website | |
Leangen Travbane is a harness racing course located at Leangen in Trondheim, Norway. The race course is owned by the Norwegian Trotting Association and its parimutuel betting is handled by Norsk Rikstoto. Through this arrangement it is the only equine tote betting establishment in Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal.
Orkdal Tråvklubb was established as the first horse racing club in Norway in 1873, and the first club in Trondheim, Selskabet for kapkjøring i det nordenfjeldske Norge, was established in 1879, with Johan Henrik Spørck as the most enthusiastic founder. He took initiative for the first organized race to be held on the ice of Jonsvatnet that winter, and paid 200 Norwegian krone (NOK) in prize money from his own pocket. Summer races were organized along the closed off section of the Trondhjem–Støren Line, which had been closed between Sluppen and Valset. The organization worked with the breeding of fast trotting horses, and based itself on the Dølahest.
Interest declined from 1895, but rose again from 1904, when Trøndelag Trotting Association (TT) was established, as part of the Norwegian Trotting Association. Its initial race on Jonsvatnet gathered a crowd of 4,000 spectators. Later Vintervannet in Bymarka and Lodgårdsvannet in Melhus were used. However, dependency on cold weather for the execution of races and poor tracks on the ice caused interest in establishing a land track and the association started working with the issue in 1911.
TT moved its races to Lianvatnet from 1925, where it drew up to 6,000 spectators at its events. The association was offered a free lot at Lianmyrene in 1927, but declined. Up until the 1920s equine betting was illegal in Norway and the events and prize money was collected through admission rather than through bets. In 1928 Bjerke Travbane opened in Oslo and the law was changed, allowing for bets to be placed at races there. TT received permission to operate its first six toto races in 1930 and warmbloods competed for the first time.
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Wikipedia