The reigning Inter Dominion winner looks to become first Aussie to make the final in Solvalla.

by Adam Hamilton

It is amazing what a chat over a few beers in a Brisbane pub at 2 a.m. can do.

When Swedish megastar Bjorn Goop made the long trip across to be part of last month’s hugely successful Ultimate Driver Challenge at Brisbane’s Albion Park, Glenn Holland and Brad Hewitt seized the opportunity to ask him about the iconic Elitlopp.

Holland owns Australia’s reigning Inter Dominion winner The Locomotive, while Hewitt trains and drives him.

There had been talk of an Elitlopp invite coming The Locomotive’s way.

“Bjorn really sold us on what an incredible experience it would be,” Holland said. “Brad and I had so many questions, and Bjorn was great. It sort of started to grow from there.

“Bjorn went home and obviously put a word in for us. We’ve stayed in contact since. Put it this way, I’m sure they [Solvalla] knew we were serious about going once Bjorn had spoken to them.”

Speculation turned to fact this weekend when Solvalla formally confirmed The Locomotive would contest the Elitlopp on May 25.

Holland and Hewitt are even sacrificing an Inter Dominion title defense in Brisbane in July to head to Sweden.

“When it became clear they wanted us, I said to Brad, ‘We have to do this, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’” Holland said. “Everyone who’s been before says it’s the best thing they’ve done.”

While Goop has played a key role, Holland praised Harness Racing Australia CEO Andrew Kelly for “making everything happen.”

“We’ve arranged everything through Andrew given his great relationship with Anders Malmrot and Solvalla,” Holland said. “Given the enormity of it all, it’s been quite smooth pulling it all together.

“Much of last week was spent working on logistics, including the best possible way to get the horse over there.”

Just Believe, one of just three Aussie-trained trotters to contest the Elitlopp so far, had to endure over 60 hours of travel by air and road to get from Melbourne to Stockholm in 2023.

“I heard about that, but thankfully the options are a lot better now,” Holland said. “We can get a flight from Melbourne to Doha and connect to Amsterdam. Instead of a 17-hour road trip from Amsterdam to Stockholm like Just Believe, we can go three hours to Paris and fly from there to Stockholm.

“It’s crucial because Just Believe was a gelding, but our guy is a stallion.”

It still makes for a busy time with the New South Wales-based The Locomotive going across to New Zealand for a feature race before embarking on the Swedish trip.

The Locomotive is booked on a flight from Sydney to Auckland on March 29 to tackle the $600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge in New Zealand’s North Island on April 4.

“He’s then on a flight back to Sydney two days later,” Holland said. “From there he gets a couple of days rest, then goes by road to Melbourne to catch that plane out of Melbourne on April 10 [to Doha].”

Holland isn’t daunted by the fact the three previous Aussie racers in the Elitlopp heats — Just Believe, Maori Time (2018) and Sundons Gift (2009) — didn’t qualify for the final.

In fact, when you include the Kiwis, only the great mare Pride Of Petite has made an Elitlopp final. She finished fourth in a heat in 1997 and sixth in the final.

“Our trotters have just gotten so much better over the past 10 years or so,” Holland said. “Nothing went right for Just Believe in the heat and he should’ve made the final. He proved it with two big runs at his next two starts in Sweden.

“The Swedes have done their own analysis on him and they said on the times he ran winning his Great Southern Star heat, he would be in the mix.”

The plan is for Hewitt to go across and supervise The Locomotive’s key training for the Elitlopp and drive him in the heat, and hopefully final.

Hewitt, who has enjoyed a breakthrough 12 months in his career, is thrilled with the opportunity.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” he said. “We’re confident he’s the right sort of horse with the class and speed for a race like the Elitlopp.

“As long as he travels well, settles in and has some luck with barrier draws, he can make and be very competitive in the final.

“Glenn and I are hugely thankful for the faith and support Solvalla have shown in us and The Locomotive and we hope to become the first Australian-trained horse to make an Elitlopp final.

“Like everyone here, we watched with great interest when Just Believe went over a couple of years ago and was so competitive in a couple of big races. We’re sure our guy won’t just be making up the numbers.”

Like Just Believe, The Locomotive will stay in Sweden after the Elitlopp for some other feature races.

“Given we can’t be back for the Inter Dominion and there’s not much else at home for the rest of the year, we’re going to make the most of the trip and he’ll probably stay another couple of months,” Holland said.

“We’re working through exactly what races, but there’s plenty of suitable options.

“Brad’s got a big team at home, so Solvalla has been great in sourcing a trainer to help while the horse is in Sweden and they’ll take over after the Elitlopp so Brad can get back here.”