by Thomas Hedlund

Hambletonian winner Captain Corey will not race in 2022. The owners of the 3-year-old trotter have decided to let Captain Corey work full-time as a stallion after x-rays showed the son of Googoo Gaagaa is not fully recovered from the injury that stopped him from further racing after the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes consolation in September.

Part-owner Robert Lindström told www.sulkysport.se that some of the biggest farms have shown big interest in Captain Corey.

“We have had divided opinions as to what we should do with the horse, but now we have decided and come to a decision since the latest x-rays showed a fracture formation that was not detected before. Captain Corey was x-rayed last week and veterinarian Patty Hogan then said that the healing went well, but now she has discovered a fracture formation on new plates that have been taken, which makes it difficult to take Captain Corey back to the level we want to see him compete at. It is simply too much risk-taking and then we choose to let him breed next year,” Lindström told sulkysport.se.

Extreme exploded in Malmö

The $93,000 C.L.Müllers Memorial over 1.6 miles was the highlight of the race card at Jägersro in Malmö, Sweden on Saturday (Oct. 30) afternoon and Danish harness racing’s new star Extreme (Chocolatier) posted a solid wire-to-wire triumph for driver Thomas Uhrberg.

Extreme claimed the prestigious $115,000 European Championship for 5-year-olds at Åby earlier in October and that day he bested horses like Aetos Kronos and Don Fanucci Zet.

In Malmö, Thomas Uhrberg sent Steen Juul’s 5-year-old to the front and Extreme didn’t have to use excessively much power during the race’s first two kilometers, which obviously resulted in a speedy last half mile where Extreme left his opponents with several lengths over the home stretch.

Mile rate for Extreme was 1:57.2.

Cleangame continues to win

Jean-Michel Bazire-trained Cleangame (Ouragan de Celland) claimed his fifth consecutive win when he won the $115,000 Grand Prix du Centre-Est-Gontran de Noblet in Lyon, France on Sunday (Oct. 31) afternoon.

Six opponents faced Cleangame and Bazire could really play it safe from the start, which also became a necessary move since the 9-year-old gelding had problems finding the perfect gait directly after the race’s departure. Cleangame lost lengths to his challengers and it took a half-mile until Bazire made contact with the rest of the field. And at that point, Cleangame got an immediate order to attack against leader Valzer di Poggio.

Cleangame was left in position first over, but with a half-mile remaining in the 1.7-mile long race, Bazire pushed the button and forced Cleangame to the front. The rest of the journey towards the wire became a safe trip for France’s dominant trainer and driver. Bazire just focused on having his horse keep a nice gait and it seemed like Cleangame had plenty of power left to use when he hit the wire in mile rate 1:59.1.

The winter meeting in Paris approaches and horses such as Cleangame, and other well merited geldings, will have to pick the very right objectives since most of the races in Paris (in this category) exclude geldings.

French-trained winner in Orsi Mangelli

The prestigious 3-year-old race the $296,500 Gran Premio Orsi Mangelli was on the race card in Milan on Monday (Nov. 1) afternoon and the favorites in the two eliminations did their jobs on the road to the big final later the same day.

Italian Derby winner Charmant de Zack (Vivid Wise As) found second over in his elimination heat and driver Antonio di Nardo could wait with the attack until a quarter of a mile remained, which resulted in a close win in 1:57.2.

Philippe Allaire trained Callmethebreeze (Trixton) took a safe wire to wire win in the second heat and driver Andrea Guzzinati could just let his horse control the field completely over the stretch.

Callmethebreeze was pushed hard for the lead in the final and Andrea Guzzinati managed to reach the front position after 300 meters. In front, nothing much happened and Callmethebreeze cruised to easy win in 1:57.1.

Charmant de Zack finished third after a pocket trip and Chuky Roc claimed the silver medal via a third inside trip.