Dante Boko wins at Arjangs, Midnight Hour in Mikkeli
by Thomas Hedlund
An even field and bad post position for the big favourite Propulsion opened up the gates for quick starter Dante Boko (Going Kronos) in Årjängs Stora Spriterlopp in Sweden last Saturday (July 15).
Dante Boko was one of the contenders in Elitloppet earlier this summer, but that time the son of Going Kronos had no luck when the posts was drawn. The horse, trained by Lutfi Kolgjini and driven by his son, Adrian, developed a lot in France last winter and is now in the category of elite horses in Europe.
In front of over 14.000 spectators in Årjäng, the seven-year-old trotter opened quickly behind the gate and Adrian Kolgjini put the horse safely in the lead and without any struggle he could keep the pace down when the field passed 5/8ths of a mile.
Dante Boko had a lot of power to give in the last turn and when the toughest opponents Ringostarr Treb and Propulsion sat third and fourth over, a lot was won for Kolgjini, who put in all gas and stepped on the pedal with a quarter to go. Dante Boko had a three-four lengths lead when they reached the home stretch and it was enough to keep Propulsion behind by a nose in the finish.
Dante Boko came home in 1:52 and earned $68,000.
”This was an important victory for us. I think that we’ve had a lot of bad numbers and bad luck this season, but we also knew what this horse is capable of. When we sent him to France, Dante Boko advanced and became an international star”, Adrian Kolgjini said.
In Finland last Sunday (July 16), the six-year-old Diesel Don son Midnight Hour led the seven-horse field in St Michel Ajo in Mikkeli. The race is known as a speed show, but this year the contenders showed no interest in putting the pace up. In history, horses such as Varenne have made the track in the Finnish woods famous, because of its fast surface.
Iikka Nurmonen was allowed to steer the race the way he wanted behind Midnight Hour and even if Workout Wonder tried to challenge on the short home stretch, the victory was safe in 1:53.3. The winner earned $72,000.
