by Thomas Hedlund

Per Nordström-trained Önas Prince (Chocolatier) hit the lead at an early stage when Örebro racetrack played host to the last elimination ahead of Paralympiatravet, and when Nordström was allowed to keep the pace at a relatively low level, the challengers were out of chances to catch up with the efficient front runner.

Five-year-old Önas Prince dominated in the Swedish 4-year-old crop last season and Nordström has been very clear about the plans for his horse. Elitloppet at Solvalla has been the big objective and appropriately enough, the pink ticket was received just minutes after the race in Örebro on Saturday (April 30). However, Nordström declined the free ticket to next week’s final of the Paralympiatravet.

Önas Prince won in 1:52.3 and he became the eighth trotter invited to the 2022 Elitloppet.

The $85,000 Orebro Int’l over 3,140 meters was claimed by Norwegian 5-year-old Falcon Eye (Father Patrick) after a perfect pocket trip, served by driver Erik Adielsson.

Ce Bello Romain, again in Argentan

The $105,000 Criterium de Vitesse de Basse-Normandie was held in Argentan, France on Saturday (April 30) afternoon and title defender Ce Bello Romain (Jam Pridem) sprinted to safe win in a moderate 1:57.4 mile.

The pace was extremely low throughout the race, at least in consideration to the level of horses in the field, but Ce Bello Romain impressed when he finished very fast in the race’s last half-mile after a pocket trip behind leader Express Jet. The 10-year-old Ce Bello Romain was successful in high staked races in northern Europe last season and the entourage around the French trotter will likely aim for another trip north this summer.