It's Elitlopp Time!

Forget this North American racing, it's time to head to Sweden for one of the most interesting and watched events in the World of racing - the Elitlopp.

This weekend some of the best trotters assembled will be knocking heads at Solvalla racetrack in Sweden. I believe HPITV will be covering it Sunday morning. I always wished I had a decent trotter - ok, who wouldn't - as I think it would be a huge thrill to make this trip. Two people that are lucky enough are Luc Ouellette and Peter Klienhans. They are teaming up to try and get Enough Talk the trophy.

Peter is blogging from there, exculsively for harnessracing.com.

"No matter what happens in the race, however, I am already certain that I made the right decision in accepting the invitation to compete. What a beautiful country Sweden is: clean, calm, and low stress. The people here have given Enough Talk, his groom Jen Durden, and myself a royal welcome- literally. In addition to paying for the horse's shipping and for our flights and rooms, they have treated us as celebrities, introducing us to reporters, trainers, and officials. Today, Annette, the wonderfully bubbly hospitality manager at Solvalla, took us on a tour of the royal stables, which- for sheer magnificence and polish- puts any other equestrian facility I have seen to shame. As part of the presentation, we got to watch as the King and Queen of Sweden paraded by in elegant horse-drawn carraiges. Not a bad perk for getting an opportunity to race against the best trotters in the world.

Further, driver Luc Ouellette has chimed in at Standardbred Canada.

"You can't imagine how thrilled I am just to be going over to be part of the Elitlopp," said Ouellette. "If you like harness racing even in the slightest degree, you've got to love the Elitlopp. The crowd and excitement is just great, and the big field sets up for one heck of a race."

This is a great race, and if you are near a TV on Sunday, it's worth it.

Stakes season is starting. Let's hope the racing is good.