by Thomas Hedlund

The Norwegian-bred 3- and 4-year-old colts and geldings made up Sunday’s (Sept. 8) $125,000 Kriteriet and $165,000 Derby and it all ended with dominance from Geir Vegard and Magnus Teien Gundersen. Both races were won by horses from the Gundersen stable and they both impressed in their races, respectively.

In the Kriteriet for 3-year-olds, Magnus Teien sat behind his father’s Googoo Gaagaa son Nadal B.R. and despite a trip outside of favorite Timestile R, Magnus Teien’s horse proved strongest and claimed the victory in a mile rate of 1:59 over 1.3 miles.

Favorite Timestile R held for second place while Felix Halbak finished strongly between horses in third.

In the Derby for 4-year-olds, Magnus Teien sat behind the heavy favorite Just Like Heaven and it all seemed safe and clear when the duo hit the lead after a kilometer. Certainly, Just Like Heaven had to do some hard work three wide before he came to the front position, but it still looked pretty controlled as the field turned for home. But stablemate Charron (Code Bon), driven by Geir Vegard wanted to be a part of the game. Geir Vegard left fourth over with a half mile to go and Charron had to race three wide the rest of the race. That didn’t stop Charron from challenging his leading stablemate and Geir Vegard refused to let his son Magnus Teien fly away on the lead. Charron’s performance was nothing but impressive as he disarmed Just Like Heaven by a nose in a mile rate of 1:57.2 over 1.6 miles. It was big dominance by Gundersens behind the two top horses, while Powwow finished third.

Charron is bred and owned by Morten Langli, well known sports commentator in Norway, and also known as one of the co-owners of Greenshoe. A true interest for the harness racing business paid off well for him at Bjerke last Sunday.

And speaking of the Gundersen stable, American-bred Devilish Hill (Muscle Hill—Devilish Delight) continues to show great capacity in Europe and in Wednesday’s (Sept. 11) Breeders Crown qualification in Halmstad, the 4-year-old Muscle Hill son captured his fourth win in six starts this year. Among his earlier wins, the 1:51.2 victory in $100,000 Fyraåringseliten at Solvalla stands out.

On the same night in Halmstad, Björn Goop trained San Moteur (Panne de Moteur) had a comeback after his performance in the $1,050,000 Åby World Grand Prix on Aug. 10, where he finished fourth behind horses like Horsy Dream and Francesco Zet. This time San Moteur started from post 1 behind the gate in the $25,000 Hallandsmästaren and the race developed perfectly for the big favorite. San Moteur attacked from second over in the last turn and flew to an easy win in a mile rate of 1:54.3 over 1.3 miles.

STARS ENTER VINCENNES SATURDAY

Jean-Michel Bazire can’t win Saturday’s (Sept. 14) $335,000 Criterium des 4 ans at Vincennes. However, he has two great shots in the two other Criterium-races. Bazire will stand on the side of the track when the best French-bred 4-year-olds (K-horses) battle at Vincennes, but in the $335,000 Criterium des 3 ans he will try to claim the race for the first time as a trainer. His Liza Josselyn will be one of the favorites in the event and Bazire will most certainly find himself the big favorite behind Jushua Tree in the $335,000 Criterium des 5 ans. It’s teeming with good, strong horses in the three Criterium races and beside the winter meeting’s all Grand Prix-events, this race card is a real highlight.

$335,000 CRITERIUM DES 3 ANS

2,700 meters

Horse — Sire — Driver

1. Luminosity — Royal Dream — Alexandre Abrivard

2. Love Letter — Royal Dream — Julien Dubois

3. Lapis Lazuli — Ready Cash — Alexandre Abrivard

4. Light My Fire — Ready Cash — Franck Nivard

5. Little Brown — Goetmals Wood — David Thomain

6. Lucky Jackson — Ready Cash — Nicolas Bazire

7. Lutin des Bordes — Bilibili — Jean-Philippe Monclin

8. Largo de Castelle — Golden Bridge — Sébastien Ernault

9. Loulou de Mye — Clif du Pommereux — Matthieu Abrivard

10. Lotta Bourbon — Prodigious — Anthony Barrier

11. Louisiane de Bomo — Ready Cash — Benjamin Rochard

12. Liza Josselyn — Ready Cash — Jean-Michel Bazire

13. Lovino Bello — Village Mystic — Eric Raffin

14. Lombok Jiel — Enino du Pommereux — Pierre-Yves Verva

15. Luciano Menuet — Feliciano — Yoann Lebourgeois

$335,000 CRITERIUM DES 4 ANS

2,850 meters

Horse — Sire — Driver

1. Killer Queen — Face Time Bourbon — Damien Bonne

2. Kemia du Chene — Bird Parker — Anthony Duperche

3. Kanto Avis — Ready Cash — Guillaume Martin

4. Kaporal des Forges — Face Time Bourbon — Pierre Yves Verva

5. Kaviarissime — Love You — Francois Lagadeuc

6. Khal’s Fella — Ready Cash — Sebastien Ernault

7. Keen Winner — Ready Cash — Anthony Barrier

8. Kelle Beaute — Uniclove — Alexandre Abrivard

9. Kataki de Wallis — Charly du Noyer — Gabriele Gelormini

10. Karlito — Ready Cash — Yoann Lebourgeois

11. Keep Going — Follow You — Eric Raffin

12. Katinka du Mouchel — Prodigious — Clement Duvaldestin

13. Ksar — Follow You — Matthieu Abrivard

14. King Opera — Ready Cash — William Bigeon

15. Kristal Josselyn — Bold Eagle — Franck Nivard

16. Krack Time Atout — Face Time Bourbon — Paul-Philippe Ploquin

17. Kana de Beylev — Express Jet — Benjamin Rochard

18. Koctel du Dain — Boccador de Simm — David Thoman

$335,000 CRITERIUM DES 5 ANS

3,000 meters

Horse — Sire — Driver

1. Jolie Poupee — Quaker Jet — Romain Marty

2. Jabalpur — Booster Winner — Gabriele Gelormini

3. Joconde Sibey — Timoko — Louis Baudouin

4. Just A Midi — Captain Crazy — Sebastien Baude

5. Joumba de Guez — Carat Williams — Nicolas Bazire

6. Jango Vici — Dragon des Racques — Benjamin Rochard

7. Jiosco de Phyt’s — Bolero Love — Eric Raffin

8. Jazman Debailleul — Repeat Love — Franck Nivard

9. Jasper des Charmes — Kesaco Phedo — Paul-Philippe Ploquin

10. Jack Tonic — Charly du Noyer — Theo Duvaldestin

11. Joyner Sport — Dollar Macker — Robin Bouvier

12. J’Aime le Foot — Boccador de Simm — Antoine Lherete

13. Justin Bold — Bold Eagle — Yoann Lebourgeois

14. Josh Power — Offshore Dream — Sebastien Ernault

15. Just Love You — Love You — Alexandre Abrivard

16. Jushua Tree — Bold Eagle — Jean-Michel Bazire

17. Just A Gigolo — Boccador de Simm — David Thomain