By Michael Guerin
It took New Zealand trotter Special Force just seconds to go from being an antipodean novelty to a genuine superstar in Sweden yesterday.
The Pukekohe-trained Interdominion champion pulled off one of the hardest asks in racing when he beat some classy European opponents in his Swedish debut.
He won a 1640m event at the Solvalla track outside Stockholm in what was a lead-up to his next two starts in which he will take on the world's best trotters.
New Zealand-trained horses travelling to Europe and beating the locals under their own conditions are virtually unheard of, with no Kiwi-trained horse having won in Europe this decade. Because New Zealand racehorses compete in Europe so rarely, Special Force was seen as more of a novelty a serious player in the coming feature races.
But that all changed yesterday in a moment trainer Dave McGowan will never forget.
Special Force had engaged in a blistering early speed duel before taking a trail and his winning chances looked hopeless with just 100m to run. Then he got a gap and what followed was magic. "It was incredible the way he exploded through the gap," said leading Swedish trotting official Klaus Koch yesterday.
"He really stunned us all and he raced clear to win in a 1:56.9 mile rate, which is a really good time.
"Before the race we weren't sure how he would handle some of the big races coming up but there is no doubting now that Special Force is going to be taken very seriously by leading trainers over here." Special Force and McGowan were swamped by wellwishers and the trainer says he expects some major improvement in the 5-year-old when he steps up in grade on May 16.
"It was incredible. People lined the fence to see him come back and kept giving us flowers and shaking hands. It was unbelievable," said McGowan. "I know not many New Zealand horses have ever won in Europe so to be part of this something is special." Special Force's next race will be when he takes on Swedish hero Zoogin in the Oslo Grand Prix, worth nearly $380,000.
The gelding's chances in that race have been dramatically boosted by travel problems encountered by world champion Moni Maker, who is unlikely to make the Oslo race.
Special Force will be reunited with Pukekohe driver Todd MacFarlane for that race and the pair will also team up for the world's greatest trot, the Elitlopp on May 30. A win in those two races would take him towards $1 million in stakes, a mark never approached by an Australasian trotter.
Horse Racing: NZ trotter takes Sweden by storm
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