By MICHAEL GUERIN
The dream is becoming reality for the Lyell Creek team.
The New Zealand champion started his ambitious Scandinavian campaign with an effortless victory at Solvalla in Sweden yesterday.
Lyell Creek sat parked before surging away from his opponents at the 400m point to win by two and a half lengths in a smart 1:56.3 mile rate for the 1640m.
He trotted his last 800m in 57.5 seconds in a performance that had catch driver Torbjorn Jansson and the local media raving.
"This horse will be very competitive with the best trotters in the world," said Jansson, who is one of the leading horsemen in Sweden and the trainer-driver of world champion Peace Corps.
The bigger than usual crowd at Solvalla, along with local television channels, saw what Kiwi harness racing fans have been marvelling at for two seasons - a brutal display of Lyell Creek's stamina.
After being allowed to cruise off the mobile gate in the $28,000 free-for-all, Lyell Creek worked up to sit parked before starting to pour the pressure on at the 600m.
"It was a perfect drive, exactly like Anthony [Butt] would have driven him," said owner Graham Bruton.
"It was incredible to be part of and we now know we are in this with a big chance."
But such is Lyell Creek's reputation in Sweden that he was paying only $1.10 to win.
While the opposition was nothing like the superstars Lyell Creek will meet in his next three starts, travelling foreman for the Tim Butt's stable Prop Anderson says the champ is only getting warm.
Lyell Creek heads to Norway for the Oslo Grand Prix on May 13.
Two weeks later he will contest the heat and finals format of the $800,000 Elitlopp at Solvalla, for which he is rated a 10-1 chance after yesterday's victory.
Racing: Lyell easy winner in Sweden
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