Nuncio, the winner of the 2014 Kentucky Futurity and Yonkers Trot and winner of last year's Elitlopp, had his 15-race winning streak snapped when he finished second at the Solvalla track in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday (April 1). With regular driver Ôrjan Kihlstrom in the sulky, he finished second in a Gold event to Kadett CD.
Nuncio, who is owned and trained by Stefan Melander, was the betting favourite in the one-and-five-sixteenths-mile race. Kihlström sent the son of Andover Hall to the lead, but was kept wide by El Mago Pellini, driven by Lutfi Kolgjini. Kihlstrom picked up cover behind On Track Piraten, who trotted outside El Mago Pellini. With 500 metres to go, On Track Piraten tired. Nuncio managed to catch El Magno Pellini, but didn't have enough late trot to hold off Kadett CD, driven by Robert Bergh. They had a pocket trip and saved enough energy to win by one and a half lengths.
Kadett C D was a 63-1 longshot, but has raced against the best in his career. His upset victory spurred a $2.6 million payoff in the V75 exotic bet, with just one winner.
Otherwise, Kihlstrom had a big weekend, as he captured his 6,000th career victory on Friday (March 31) and won with the American-bred Delicious for trainer Daniel Reden and Bengt Agerup's Stall Zet.
(Harnessracing.com)