Former Swedish champion Calgary Games catches the eye as a first-crop sire
Sweden’s 2021 Horse of the Year is beginning to appear in North American program pages as the sire of promising trotting 2-year-olds
by Brett Sturman
When reviewing a Kindergarten series race at The Meadowlands last Saturday (Aug. 23), what stuck out was the sire of the Swedish-bred 2-year-old trotting filly Busy Miss Lissy S; a filly trained by Ake Svanstedt that would go on to win that night to remain unbeaten through four career starts including her second straight Kindergarten series win.
Out of a Swedish-bred daughter of Muscle Hill, Busy Miss Lissy S is by a sire named Calgary Games. For a casual observer it may have been easy to assume Calgary Games isn’t anything other than an obscure siring experiment, but that couldn’t be any further from reality.
That single race may not have been cause to think further about the sire – maybe it was a random one-off – but then Calgary Games appeared again this past Wednesday at The Red Mile when a 2-year-old trotting colt of his named Zephyr Kemp won there in a time of 1:53.4, his second straight win in the Kentucky Commonwealth Series, which bested his win time from the week prior of 1:54.3. Like Busy Miss Lissy S, Zephyr Kemp is trained by someone with deep international expertise — Marcus Melander.
For those who follow international racing, including those astute Harness Racing Update readers who follow Thomas Hedlund’s European Report column through the years, Calgary Games is far more well-known. Calgary Games was named Sweden’s Horse of the Year in 2021. That year, he won the $930,000 Swedish Derby at Jägersro Racetrack as part of a nine-race unbeaten streak to begin his career.
Calgary Games is sired by the standout race performer Readly Express, who, in turn, is by one of the all-time greats in Ready Cash. On the maternal side, Calgary Games is a half-brother to Group 1 winner Fame And Glory (Tactical Landing) and there’s more international flair going back further in the pedigree. That includes third dam Cikora Tilly, who is the granddam to the legendary Victory Tilly. To U.S. observers, Victory Tilly is probably best known for her then-world record performance in the Nat Ray when coming to The Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day in 2002.
Beyond Busy Miss Lissy S and Zephyr Kemp as above, the sire statistics of Calgary Games are promising in the early going. From just 24 registered foals that are now 2-year-olds racing in 2025 as part of his first crop, 17 of those have already started, and eight have won. That includes Zephyr Kemp (1:53.4), Busy Miss Lissy S (1:56.1) as well as three others who have taken a mark of 1:57.2 or faster. One of those is Alberta V who won a race at The Red Mile by 14 lengths in 1:56.4 back early in the 2-year-old season on July 12.
Looking back to last year’s yearling sales, there were ample Calgary Games offerings at the Lexington Selected sale. That’s where 16 yearlings by the Swedish champion went through the sales ring with an average sale price of $23,500. They were led by Zephyr Kemp who went for the $80,000 high mark. Alberta V, who was mentioned prior, went for $14,000, and last week’s star, Busy Miss Lissy S, is one that wasn’t sold publicly last year. The only other publicly sold Calgary Games yearlings last year came from Harrisburg, though that included just two modestly priced yearlings that went for $5,000 and $6,000.
With an early track record being established it will be interesting to see what Calgary Games yearlings bring in the upcoming fall sales for the sire standing predominantly in Sweden. Interestingly, there’s only five offerings at Lexington, which is less than last year, but there is an increase to six offerings at the Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling sale this November in Harrisburg, PA. The Lexington number reflects an overall decline in number of foals registered, which went from 24 for the foal year of 2023 down just 15 for the foal year of 2024.
However, the five yearlings offered at Lexington, bring their customary loaded pedigrees expected from that sale. One of those is a half-sister to Dancinginthedark M, a 1:49.3 winner at The Red Mile, winner of a Stanley Dancer split at The Meadowlands. Like Calgary Games, Dancinginthedark M is by the sire Readly Express.
As to what Calgary Games is named for, your guess is as good as mine. My first thought was back to the 1988 Winter Olympic Calgary Games but maybe that’s just because of my affection for Cool Runnings. More importantly, expect to see his name more often in program pages for upcoming stakes races.
