It’s been more than a decade since a mare managed to beat the boys in Sweden’s top trotting race, the Elitlopp
. And the mare that flexed her muscle to do it was the incomparable Moni Maker for the team of trainer Jimmy Takter and driver Wally Hennessey in the 1998 edition.
Driver Tim Tetrick aims to do his best to add Buck I St Pat’s name to the list of formidable femmes that have won Sweden’s legendary trotting classic. And according to the 27-year-old reinsman, the six-year-old daughter of Jailhouse Jesse-Name It Something clearly has what it takes to go with - and beat - the best trotters in the world.
“In her start at The Meadowlands on April 17, she was better than I ever saw her,” Tetrick told Trot Insider. “She was vicious that night. When I came out of the hole and moved her to the front that night she did so like a hoppled pacer. She’s very good right now; she’s sound, healthy, happy and fresh.”
The Ronnie Burke trainee, who was making just her second start of the season, blazed to a 1:54.1 victory that night. An eye-popping final quarter of :26.3 was more than enough to propel her to the five-length decision. She followed that up with a commanding win on Friday night in the Classic Series, tripping the timer in 1:52.3
“I really think the five-eighths oval is her cup of tea,” said Tetrick when asked about Buck I St Pat traveling to the Solvalla Racecourse. “She trotted in 1:52.2 at Chester in what I believe was a track and World Record last year. She‘s so quick to get in gear and she makes up so much ground in such a short period of time; plus she trots the turns real good.”
The Elitlopp, which is less than a month away, takes place on Sunday, May 31. Tetrick, who will be making the trip with his girlfriend, will depart on Thursday, May 28 and return on the following Monday.
“The people over there are excited we are coming,” added Tetrick. “They said we won’t have a spare moment when we’re over there; I’m sure they’ve got lots of things lined up for us to do while we’re there.”
Tetrick admitted he hasn’t done any homework on the competition he’ll be facing in Sweden, but he has picked the brains of some of the drivers that have attended previous editions of the Elitlopp in the past. It’s been well documented in the past that it’s a whole new ballgame when it comes to rules and regulations and over there.
“I talked to a couple of the guys and they said you can’t whip one-handed,” said Tetrick. “And you have to stay straight with your horse, you can’t drift at all in the stretch. They really insist that you do that.”
Team U.S.A. will be well represented at this year’s Elitlopp thanks to the presence of the multi-talented duo of Buck I St Pat and the Peter Kleinhans-trained Enough Talk, who finished third in the final of last year’s Elitlopp.