During recent times when the world was in a state of quarantine due to the COVID-19, the majority of the industry sectors had shut down and people weren’t allowed to organize any group events, neither were they allowed to run their businesses in most of the world. Later on, in the year, this ban was lifted and a lot of the businesses that were unharmed by the economic weakness were back up and running again.
One such business was the trotting scenario in Sweden. During all the other sports shutdown, this was one of the fewer ones that kept thriving and for good reason. This article taps into those reasons and the idea behind this magnificent sport is loved and played by millions of enthusiasts from around the globe.
The Game of Trotting in Sweden and Horse Racing in the UK
“Trotting” on its sense is defined as a sport which is comprised of a horse that pulls a two-wheeled vehicle, called a “sulky” with a rider in it, around a racecourse, and whoever the winner of this “race” is, wins a prize. It is like the English version of the “Derby”. However, this is done with a rider who sits on top of the horse, as opposed to using a vehicle pulled by it. Interested in knowing more about this sport? Click here.
Horse racing in Sweden then, began very early, according to historical data it has been dated to the year 1815, so for over 200 years and still going strong. This sport is Sweden is typically divided into two parts, namely, the “trotting” racing sport and the “thoroughbred” racing, which is the one familiar to the UK population.
The thoroughbred action like the British one entails both jump actions and flat and takes places on turf (artificial grass) and weatherproof surfaces. Just like in the former sport, there are steeplechases and hurdles in this event too. However, the obstacle races (contests done over obstacles strategically placed on the ground), are not as common in Sweden.
The game of trotting is incomparable to any other, and as much as UK fans may love their thoroughbred races, trotting is far more exciting and entails a lot more action on the field. There is it so popular that there are about 1000 different meetups of this race in one year using two different breeds https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/05/trotting-thrives-in-sweden-during-sports-shutdown/, the Standardbred horse, and the Nordic Trotter. These have bloodlines going all the way from American sports horses to the Swedish and French ones too.
Drivers of the sulky sit in the carriage, while the horse is harnessed in the front of it. The competitors are then expected to trot, and not gallop as would typically horse races. These repeated movements take place over 150 meters and if they gallop, they are often disqualified if they do this in the first 100 meters.
Penalties are enforced during the horse’s starting positions, if riders are careless and action any offenses for instance in the thoroughbred races or they do not abide by the driving rules, they can be disqualified to ensure all the players have a fair game and a fair chance of success. Throughout Sweden, there are 35 different racecourses and most of them are dedicated to this sport.
A trio of different venues host these games, and some information regarding this has been included below as well.
The Three Major Swedish trotting Races
The three most valuable of all the contests in the Swedish trotting calendar are hosted at three different and popular venues.
1st Venue – Paralympiatravet (The Paralympian Trot). The event run here is done hand in hand with the Swedish Paralympian Committee. This collaboration takes place to raise funds for, and improve the possibilities for all the para-sporting ventures available in the country as well.
There are several qualifying events to enable a spot in the finals one of which is through an invitation from the relevant authorities, and if they are returning champions, their chances are much higher of being a part of it. This one has a distance of anything from 2000m to 2140m.
2nd Venue – Elitloppet (The Elite Race). This specific race is known as the “highlight of the season”. It is not a solitary race like the typical kind would be, but rather the winner of this one is decided after not one, but two qualifying races, both of which are held on one day. the prize pool for this one is normally £500,000. Unfortunately, the home team has had little luck with this one and the winners so far have all been of the international arena.
3rd Venue – Svenskt Travderby (Swedish Trotting Derby). If you looking to watch one of the most prestigious categories of trotting races, this would be the one. The winner goes away with a £200,000 prize but the layout and suited attire to the event gives away the luxurious attempt at an impressive event for all.
Betting on Swedish Trotting Racing
If you’re ever wondering how to go about betting on these games, you can either visit the game itself or bet through any betting agency that specializes in it such as Minandel travtips and the basic idea is that when placing a bet on the races, there are several ways one can do this, much in the same way as the UK bets made on the horses there. You bet with the “Tote” and the betting is run as a pool with all the money for the races placed in one pot, and the winnings are then shared between those bettors who are successful.
Both standard win and place bets are available to the public, and so are the “Twin bets” which are the equivalent of a combination of the two, as well as the “trio bet”. One can bet into a large pool every week, usually a multiple-bet pool (on many horses or riders).
So there you have it, the basic information anyone can access regarding this spectacular sporting game in Sweden that anyone from any part of the world can bet on! Best of luck!
