Ecurie D is “Coming to America”

One of the trotters that competed in both heats of the 2021 Elitloppet on Sunday (May 30) is headed to North America and into the barn of one of harness racing’s top conditioners.

Ecurie D, who finished sixth in the final of Europe’s elite race, will fly across the ocean from Frode Hamre’s barn in Norway to the stable of Ake Svanstedt, who famously came across the pond in 2014 with his world champion Sebastian K and has since built a large trotting contingent including several imports from Europe.

A winner of 15 races from 21 starts, Ecurie D has banked around $430,000 in his campaign. From his three-year-old season into his four-year-old year, Ecurie D chalked an 11-race win streak including wins in the European Championship for three-year-olds and the Fyraåringseliten, a SEK500,000 Grade II race at Solvalla. He earned an invitation to the Elitloppet with a win in the Dartster F:s Lopp on April 7.

Owners Global Glide AB and Götebrg Smart Repair planned to campaign their five-year-old son of former Ontario stallion Infinitif in the North America for the fall stakes season with sights on the Maple Leaf Trot, Dayton Trotting Derby, Allerage Trot and the TVG Final.

“It’s been a dream ever since we bought Ecurie D as a three-year-old,” co-owner Marko Kreivi told Travronden.

Once landing stateside, Ecurie D will stand in quarantine for six weeks before moving into the Svanstedt Stable. Because of the quarantine, Svanstedt estimates Ecurie D’s first start will come on Aug. 21, appropriately in the Sebastian K Invitational on Sun Stakes Saturday at Pocono.

From Travronden Newspaper in Norway