Nahar, Sedins To Maple Leaf Trot?

nahar-370.jpg
Published: August 24, 2016 10:32 am EDT

Two of the most prominent owners of Standardbred racehorses in the National Hockey League just might make an appearance at one of Canada's most prestigious stakes events next month.

Reports from Sweden indicate that trotting horse Nahar will be pointed to race in the 2016 Maple Leaf Trot. The winner of the 2013 Elitlopp over such standouts as Sebastian K, Arch Madness and Timoko, Nahar is trained by Robert Bergh for owners Daniel & Henrik Sedin.

The eliminations for the Maple Leaf Trot are slated for September 10 with the final one week later on September 17 at Mohawk Racetrack. The next day, Team Sweden plays its first pre-tournament match in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Sweden plays Team Russia at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, thus the Sedin brothers will likely be in Southwestern Ontario on Saturday night when the Maple Leaf Trot will be contested.

Nahar (Love You - Mahonny Broline) is now 11 years old but is still competing against Europe's top trotters. His last start at a mile came in May in an Elitlopp qualifying event, where he finished second to On Track Piraten. Lifetime, he's won 39 of his 125 lifetime starts and banked more than $1.9 million (CAD).

This will be the third horse Bergh has brought over to compete in the Maple Leaf Trot. He finished second (behind Mr Muscleman) in 2004 with Tsar Dinverne (co-owned by another Swedish-born hockey legend, Peter Forsberg) and didn't qualify for the final with the Sedins' Amour Ami in 2009.

While Nahar isn't one of the 29 horses eligible to the Maple Leaf Trot after the staking deadline, invited foreign horses can compete after paying a fee of $9,000 (CAD). This fee is comprised of $1,000 Nomination, $3,000 Sustaining and $5,000 Starting. Foreign horses are defined as "those horses which normally race outside of Canada and the United States and have not had more than four starts in North America in 2016."

Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.