Jorma Kontio, 62, has made history today by achieving his 10,000th victory in a trotting race with Finnhorse Evartti at Pihtipudas racetrack in Finland. Kontio is the most victorious trotting driver in Scandinavia.
Kontio has been racing for almost 50 years. Jorma “Magic” Kontio was born August 7, 1953 in Oulu, northern Finland. His father was a horse trader and from an early age Jorma got to see and work with all kinds of horses. The driver has said this to be the origin of his acknowledged talent as a catch-driver. With a special permission, he was able to start his career already at the age of 13 and the legend won his first race with a Finnhorse mare Ulla-Maija already at that age in 1966.
Kontio has not only driven an astonishing amount of victories, but many of those are from major races. He is also a double winner in European Championship for drivers (1985 and 1998). One of the greatest achievements in his career has been to win the UET Trotting mastership with the Finnish trotter Houston Laukko in 1995. Kontio has been selected a record-breaking 23 times as the best in his sport at the annual Finnish sports gala. His latest major race victory came on August 2 when he won the Finnhorse Trotting Championship with the stallion Jokivarren Kunkku.
Two horses, the best ever cold blooded trotter Järvsöfaks and the legendary racing trotter Varenne, are painted on his helmet – according to Kontio these two are the best horses he has ever driven.
Kontio worked also as a professional trainer in 1980s and 1990s, but in 1994 he started to work only as a catch-driver. Kontio lives now in Enköping, Sweden where he moved in 2000.
Kontio’s thirst for victory is everlasting. Recently, the Finnish trotting legend answered about his goals in life after a major race victory to be simply “To win the next race.”
Kontio's Milestones
Victory - Year - Place
1 - 1967 - Oulu(Fin)
1,000 - 1984 - Lahti(Fin)
2,000 - 1987 - Tampere(Fin)
3,000 - 1990 - Kajaani(Fin)
4,000 - 1993 - Helsinki(Fin)
5,000 - 1996 - Helsinki(Fin)
6,000 - 2000 - Forssa(Fin)
7,000 - 2003 - Seinäjoki (Fin)
8,000 - 2007 - Axevalla (Swe)
9,000 - 2012 - Eskilstuna (Swe)
10,000 - 2015 - Pihtipudas (Fin)
(The Finnhorse)