Richard Westerink has won the Elitloppet twice before with Timoko - now he comes with the son of the former Elitloppet winner to try to take another victory.
French Etonnant is the second horse to be ready for the last Sunday in May and the Elite Race 2022.
He can do the hard work all the way and has characteristics that differ from many other horses, says Solvalla's sports director Anders Malmrot.
Eight-year-old Etonnant has previously impressed in monté where he has taken several big wins under the saddle, but in recent years it is mainly sulky that applies and the French tough guy has shown great form lately. He took a nice victory in the Prix du Bourbonnais with 49,500 euros in a first prize in mid-December on the way to the Prix d’Amerique, where Etonnant later became the favorite. Unfortunately, he did not have his best day in the Prix d’Amerique, but has returned strongly in recent starts.
Etonnant finished second in the Prix de Paris strength test over 4150 meters in the penultimate start and followed this up by taking one of the biggest victories of his career on Sunday. This in the sprint race Grand Critérium de Vitesse, where he rode outside the leader and proved to be the toughest when he won at 1.09.9 over the elite race distance of 1609 meters and took home the first prize of 90,000 euros.
During Saturday in V75 Direkt on TV4, Solvalla's sports director announced that Etonnant is the second horse to receive a pink ticket.
Etonnant is France's perhaps best horse right now and will be a big attraction for this year's Elite Race, says Anders Malmrot.
Etonnant's biggest victory is from 2021 when he won the Prix de Paris with 180,000 euros in first prize and now he comes to Solvalla for the first time.
