Maugli wins Sprinter Kupa in record time

Italian registered and Slovenia bred owned and trained Maugli (8g El Nino-Manisha Vita-Zerberus) lowered the HU harness racing record at Kincsem Park to 1.12.7kr (mile rate 1:56.97) to win the Hippodrom ES Lovarda Sprinter Kupa (purse 2,000,000Huf – purse 5,132€, 1800 meters autostart, six starters) on June 2.

Joze Sagaj drove the impressive wire-to-wire winner for trainer Janko Sagaj and owner YUM that was off as the 1.9/1 odds favorite. Maugli has career earnings of only 70,085€ due to low purses in central Europe and also Italy. He lowered the Sprinter Kupa stake record of 1.13.9kr set in 2022 by Digital Races and Ferenc Nagy II. Palace Bo won the 2023 edition.

Finishing second was Duc de Connee (11g Nauge de Lait-Noblesse d’Ize-Baccarat du Pont) with Sandor Varga driving at 49.8/1 odds. Third home was Cardenas Baba (6f From Above-Ulan Bator Baba-Love You) with Goran Zolnaji aboard at 2.8/1 as second choice.

Note, the all-time Kincsem Park trotting record was set in 2007 when L’Ecu du Vernay with J.M. Legros driving was timed in 1.12.1kr (mile rate 1:56.01). This race was the Trotteur Francais Tour European stop in Budapest with the purse paid by France, that purse 8,750,000Huf or 22,444€. This the record is not included in the HU books. The race was held on HU Derby Day-Thoroughbred 2007.

On the Kincsem Park trotting race day also featured the Nemzeti DIJ (purse 3,000,000Huf or 7,698€, 1960 meters distance handicap, seven starters) with victory to 1.16.1kr timed and 7.4/1 odds Eternity Bar (4f Maharajah-Salome’ Bar-Ganymede).

Handicapped 40 meters the winner, driven by Veljko Mazsity, the trainer for Prolongo VII, scored easily over Fatigue de je L’Aime (3m Underpaid Hanover-Brilliance Lady-Maximus Lindy) reined by Sandor Vargo for Prolongo III and trainer Bernadett Balogh. Third was Fendi (3f Oasis Bi-Celebrity Venus-Angus Hall) with Juhasz Balazs the trainer/driver. This winner too set a stakes record that was previously owned by Dolomit Boy set in 2022 at 1.17.3kr with Csaba Lakatos driving.

On the undercard this day was the Butterfly DIJ (purse 700,000Huf, 1800 meters autostart) with victory to 9/1 odds Street Genius (5m Uncle Lasse-Dats Veronica-Credit Winner) timed in 1.13.7kr. Imre Fazekas teamed this Prolongo III owned, and Bernadett Balogh trained campaigner. This was his 14^th career victory in 17 starts for the Stefan Melander HB bred trotteur.

Catania R (6g One Too Many-Campala RAL-Toss Out) at 3.7/1 odds was second driven by Marko Slavic for trainer Mitja Slavic. The 6.4/1 Coach Degli Dei (6f Brillantissime-Un Foi Axe-Love You) handled by her trainer Goran Zolnaji was third. The 1.9/1 odds favorite Denalda Op (5f Ringostarr Treb-Ostoca Antica-Ganymede) set the pace and faded to fourth with Joze Sagaj aboard.

Kincsem Park, Ugeto files/photos

by Thomas H. Hicks, for Harnesslink