CO-TRAINER Greg Sugars admits his star trotter Just Believe handled the “epic” trip from Melbourne to Stockholm better than he did.
Just Believe, winner of the Inter Dominion and Great Southern Star in recent months, now has nine days to prepare for the world’s most iconic trotting race, the Elitloppet at Solvalla in Stockholm on May 28.
“It sounded daunting when we left home, but to be there with him all the way, it was absolutely epic,” Sugars said.
“He seems to have handled it really well, but I certainly hit the wall.”
Just Believe’s travel time was 60 hours from his Myrniong stables, just outside Ballarat, to the barn of Swedish Hall of Fame trainer Stig H Johansson, near Stockholm.
“We flew Melbourne to Bangkok, then to Doha, where we changed planes, and on again to Amsterdam, where there is a ‘horse hotel’ and we had a bit of a break,” Sugars said.
“Then we drove all the way through Germany and Denmark and over the bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo, in the south of Sweden.
“As great as it was to get to Sweden, we still had another seven hours or so driving from Malmo to Stig’s farm.”
Just Believe finally arrived at Johansson’s stables at 10.15am Melbourne time this morning, which was 2.15am in Stockholm.
“He won’t do much in the first 24 hours. We’ll put him out in the paddock, let him have a good stretch and settle in,” Sugars said.
“He was very fit when he left home and the travel will have tightened him up again.
“Once he’s had time to settle in, I’ll decide what work he needs before the big day.
“But the signs are great. A big reason for taking on the trip was because he’s such a relaxed horse and great traveller and he hasn’t let us down.”
Sugars, who will drive Just Believe in the Elitloppet, said he and the horse would have ample opportunities to familiarize themselves with the Solvalla track.
“They’ve told us we can pop in anytime we’d like to work around the track, which is great and it’s not far from Stig’s farm,” Sugars said.
“While Jess (Tubbs) and I have been excited about it for a while, now the horse is here and it’s all so real, it’s pretty amazing.
“Up until now, it’s been about trying to organize everything, but now we’re here. A huge thank you to Andrew Kelly from Harness Racing Australia and all the people over here, especially Stig for allowing us to stay at his place. That’s a highlight in itself.”
Johansson boasts over 7000 career wins, including six Elitloppets.
Just Believe will become only the third Australian-trained runner in the Elitloppet heats. Sundons Gift (2009) and Maori Time (2018) contested heats, but didn’t qualify for the final run later on the same day.
Four Kiwis have also tackled the Elitloppet with only Pride Of Petite qualifying for the final when she ran sixth in 1997.
· Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
