To begin at the end:) with the races. Biggles got a very tough race going in third for the first 1000 m and then ended up in the back part, so the Chief decided not to push him at all in the end. Good choice and Big had power left and that is a good investment for the next race.

Vision with a back number ended up in the back and as Jas said. What can he do from there? And to be honset, Vish is not a horse that can do the race himself. He is best when he is up in the front. But he felt good and is in good shape. And at the end of the day that is what counts, there will be more races:)

Well, my day did not start good. When I came to the farm this morning Star had gone out from the paddock and made a warzone at the farm. All the foodbins were down, brushes everywhere, broken glass...as I said a warzone. I was ready to put a sign on the street "For Sale" and tie her up there. Maybe I will the next time.

The chief and I decided to change the routines a bit. The horses will no longer be outside during the night. I will put them out a few hours in the morning and some hours in the afternoon. The hours outside during the night takes on them. As soon as the races end for the season they will be out the whole nights again.

Now this long day is over and in a few hours the next will start so I will call it for today:) By the way, congrats to all the winners and I am happy to say that a swedish horse is the champ of Malta - Arnie Sensation/Jane

Don't know about my boss and Alan sometimes. Think they are just making fun of me:) The other day I had a burst out complaining about them speaking maltese when I am around, now that is the most common question at the farm: Jane, shall we speak english or maltese? English of course, I want to konw what they talk about:)

Anyway, since they are not so interesting, we turn to the horses instead, right:) Biggles had managed to get out of the stables during the night and were standing in the bushes and didn't know how to get out, poor thing. Well, mommy came and saved him and made everything right again:)

In the afternoon him and Vish totally freaked out in the paddock so there is nothing wrong with the energy, although the Chief is a bit worried about Big being a bit too white in his eyes. We will see tomorrow morning, cause I locked him in tightly and threw away the key. Kidding!!!

Went with Alan to swim Simoni today and they both did fine, hey both need some exercise. And I spent the time relaxing for a change, watching some polo-horses swim (cause I don't need the exercise.). Well it was needed cause of pain in my stomache. Oh bad, but I think I will survive:)

So tomorrow there is the races (maybe that's the pain...nae not the same:) and Big and Vish are both looking fine and who knows. Big always deliver good races when he is not disturbed and Vish looks really good. But we have to have the luck on our side too since the numbers aren't the best. We will know when I'll be back tomorrow night/From Pocahontas Jane:)

RACE 1- NEWPORT HORNLINE, GLOWING STAR, CHAGALL MISTRALK
RACE 2- JUNIOR COMET, GRAND MARNIER, NUMA DU GOUTIER
RACE 3- MARATHON D'ISQUES, SERINA GIRL, HAWKEAR
RACE 4- CHILLY BEAST, JEAN PERRINE, DOLLAR AS
RACE 5- KALIFANT DE JEMMA, KULLS NERO, ENERGY LAUCHER
RACE 6- MAMBO DE CHRISMI, BIGGLES COQUET, STONE CREEK
RACE 7- ARNIE SENSATION, IN VITRO DE BOURG, THE BIG BLUE WORLD
RACE 8- AGOBRA BINGO, KANDU DU FRUITIER, BBS BALTHAZAR
RACE 9- CRAZY CROWN VISION, LAC MEGANTIC, LURIGA LIZ
RACE 10- JUMP OF GLORY, VISION STAR, MR KING

Every morning my worst enemy is ringing so nicely...yeap the alarm. Oh I just hate it. Don't know what is wrong with me but the last week it feels like I never wake up, tired all the time:)

Well, at least the horses wake up and they sure are full of energy even if it is hot. But even so, Big and Vish are inside tonight and tomorrow night due to the races on friday. They seem fit for fight so far! Just told to the chief that it feels strange to put heating-cream on when it is over 30 degrees, but still...Vish needs it and I don't take any chances:-)

Gill went for a swim today and after he was injected. He is now on my "black-list". He almost went down and when I let him go he hit my leg and of course on the bone where it hurt the most:( When it happened I got goosebumps all over my body cause of the pain. Thnk I need a big teddybear to comfort me tonight. Alright...FunFun will do!

Jas and Alan put some fences up today at the farm to keep one of our neighbours happy, yeah the one that thinks our horses can jump 1.50 m and are signed up for the Olympic Games:-D. But now I think he will be happy...or maybe not. He probably will find something else to complain about, he is that kind of man.

So still with sand between my toes I leave you for a shower and hopefully see you tomorrow...that is if I wake up:)/Jane

We had a really nice morning today me and the horses. Just one of these times when all the horses wants to cuddle and hug and I just love it. The only one that got a little bit out of mood was Big when I gave him a bath. But he scratched himself so much so I had too. Or the Chief has to mend the wall again and that is not popular. Have to keep him in a good mood untill friday so he drives well:-)

At lunch Star came back from her "holiday" on Gozo. Well, I don't know if she felt that she was on holiday, but it was supposed to be a romantic one since she is breeded now:-) Hope she enjoyed it!

But the mares have been chasing her badly in the field. They can really be mean to each other these horses, but it usually cools down when they know their places in the herd. There is a risk though that someone will get hurt. I keep my fingers crossed that it won't happen!

Lorredana came to help today and since I didn't have a horse for her to ride, we took Olga out in the sulky. And Lorredana enjoyed it. Alan took Gill along too, and that horse is so much better when he can run after another horse. Since I got some help we had a BIG cleaning day at the farm. Very needed, but unfortunatly it will soon be the same...never ending story!

Chief Jason (love that nickname, brings a smile on my face everytime:) came and checked Copy. The swelling he got on his front hoof after the race is almost gone. It must have been when he was scraping and banging before the race, when he was so stressed. We'll see.

Time to rinse the saltwater out of my hair. The Chief took me to Bugibba so I could go swimming with my sister and her family today and I had the greatest time playing with the kids./Jane

But first this morning. I was so mad. Ok, FunFun and Miracle are cute when they play with each other but when they play hide and seek with me they are not cute!!!! For 15 minutes I was shouting and yelling for them to come and they were no where to be found, then I saw them at the neighbours farm hiding behind a tree, tails wiggeling. Haha very funny!

Since we were going to the sea it was an easy morning with feeding and checking if the horses were ok. And I got some company when Sufo showed up for a chat.

Well, we were of with the truck and the trailer bringing 6 horses to the sea: Copy, Vision, Big, Cometa, Simoni and Gill. And today they really enjoyed it. Gill and Cometa layed down in the water trying to tumble! God how sweet they are:-) And Simoni and Gill tumbled on the beach. Hmm not that sweet with all the sand.

Anyway they all got to swim. I took Cometa for a short one, Alan took Simoni and Gill and Ian got the tougher ones who were gonna swim for the longest time, like Vish and Big around 20 minutes each, puh and of course, our own Loch Ness (Copy). Well, he is the best so...:)

Even if the Chief (you know Sitting Bull alias Jason Vassallo, see yesterdays news:) didn't swim he was soaking wet anyway since he got to hold Cometa, both when she was splashing the water and digging holes and when she went down. He really tried to avoid it but nae...and I have to admit I was laughing, shame on me.

Luckily we had Etienne with us today too otherwise we couldn't have managed with all the horses. So "the tribe" were gathered again and me in a better mood:)/Jane

Not as bad as it sounds. Anyway, I got a comment from Mattias, who was here from Sweden, that he thought we, at the farm, were like a big family. And yes you can say that. Maybe more like an indian-tribe with Jason as the Chief, Sitting Bull (oh love that, Jas loves to sit and watch the work being done:) But the tribe has been missing today and "Pocahontas" has been working by herself and hmmm... it felt very lonely. Ok I have the horses and so on but still it is nice to talk to a human being too. I know they all have their families, girlfriends and so on so the farm is not always their first choice. Well, well...better get my own...hmmm...whatever huh:)

Right now it is a mess around the farm, that is outside the farm:) The big fare is on and there are so many cars and people and boy... they are in the way, I can tell you that, disturbing my routines. And I hate when my routines for the horses are disturbed;)

The horses has been on "service" today, being oiled up or greased up you can say. The ground is so hard now but they still tumble, they scratches themselves all over their bodies so all their marks has been smoothed and polished, hooves have been oiled and so on. Not popular I can tell you:)

So what was it that fascinated me...well to be honest can't remember:) And now I will spend some time with "my family" FunFun and Victory./Jane

Tonight it has to be short cause I am totally exhausted. (Who am I telling that, I can just do it right:-)

Anyway I was up 5 this morning just to see that it was raining, dah!? And I waited untill 6.30 to see if it stopped but oh no. So I left just to find out that if I had waited another 20 minutes I could have been dry when I came to the farm:-) It is so typical.

Well, the horses were happy and dirty. Vish and Big had done their outmost to get sand and mud on them. Pigs! They are getting a bath tomorrow morning, I was in no mood today. Actually to tired:-)

Copy and Simoni seem to have taken the races well. And the Boss had some work to do...yeap changing shoes on Cops and putting shoes on Simoni. But I don't feel sorry for him. He has said he likes it and it gives him even more practice:) Hey watch out Oliver!!!

Vish was funny this morning. Since Big is the boss in the paddock and scares Vish a bit, Vision needs someone to pick on. Now when I have moved Olga to the field he has no one. So today he stood up on his back legs showing of getting some energy out...that is untill Big looked at him, than he ran:) Chicken! But I think he is missing Copy, since they were playing a lot, hmm but way to rough!

And another thing that fascinates me is... nae short it was supposed to be, so I will tell you tomorrow:)/Jane

What a day! Jason and I spent half of it at Oliver's to get Big shoed. I thought we left in good time but oh no. But at least Big has new shoes and nice polish on his toes:)

And today he finally arrived, "the shitman", what a blessing. I think I was smiling the whole time he was there (yeah even now) and he will be back tomorrow to get the rest. Imagine what small tnhings make me happy, well the shitman is quite big:)

Then we had some races too, not to forgett, and they did not go without some drama. Today we finally manage to get Copy into one of the stables but he stood scraping and banging and was soaking wet. So it was not a perfect start for him.

First out was Simoni and he could have won today but Alan made a few "bad" descisions. But a third place is good and since he was tender in a leg yesterday so maybe it was better not to push him. And why he was lame yesterday? The reason was this "brilliant" blacksmith that I wrote about who now before a race changes the angles of the hooves and had shoed him unevenly in front, 1 cm difference on the sides!!!!. Wonder who is Donald Duck?:)

Then we decided not to heat Copy since he had been so stressed, just get him some heating before the race. And both me and Jason are very satisfied with him. I told Jason before to try to give him an easy race and don't push him. He has galloped the last 100 races (that's how it feels) so now the important thing was to build his mind. Jason gave Copy the perfect race, just what he needed. That's what I call a driver:-) I heard someone ask why we thought he did good, since he never speeded up. Well, if you are gonna give the horse confidence again you DON'T speed them or push them, let them just run along. Common sense:)

And finally all congrats to Niger stables for winning with Pistona, George for winning with Staro Sammet and then one of my favorite horses won Bello Fratello (yeah he was at my swedish hometrack, that's why:-) Good job everyone! And of course congrats to all the rest that won or did a good race. Hmm, do you think the Boss is trying to learn some from Oliver?!:)/Jane

Late with these news I know, but Torvald Palema and Åke Svanstedt won another big race when they won Forus Open in Norway. Despite a galopp by the gate and loosing some positions he manage, by a very good finish as in Elitloppet, to win this race. The winning time was 10.7/1600 m and Svanstedt got 1.200 000 norweign crowns in his pocket!!!!

Now it is possible that Torvald Palema might race in USA. The winners of Prix d'Amerique and Elitloppet are always invited to Breeders Crown for older horses. The plan is some rest now, then race him in Hugo Åbergs Memorial at Jägersro and then maybe a trip to the States, according to Svanstedts website.

Offshore Dream quit racing?! The trainer Pierre Levesque is not satisfied with what the double Prix d'Amerique winner has shown on the racetrack lately, and he says that Offshore Dream will now just breed. The 7 year old stallion has 13 victories in 49 races and has earned 21.5 million swedish crowns. He took his record in Elitloppet this year when he ran 10.1 in the heat.

Stefan Hultman's Jocose is badly injured and will be away from the racing track for quite some time. He will now have a rest and have another check up at the vet in a couple of weeks to see if it is healing ok.

/Jane

He celebrateted it with a cake at the farm but he didn't like it. But he did like the special made winnig trophy with apples, grass and carrots:)

Robert Bergh was today cleared in court of all the charges of cruelty to animals after a race with tough driving in november 2007.

Jean-Michelle Bazire is not longer the driver of Igor Font. After Elitloppet, where the owners and trainer weren't staisfied with the way he drove him, they choose to have Björn Goop as a driver in Forus Open in Norway.

Picture Igor Font and former dirver Bazire/Jane

As always during the summer one big race after the other is on. Now it is time for Forus Open in Norway and the winner of Elitloppet, Torvald Palema drew the perfect number 3 behind the car. The startlist is as follows:

Startlist Forus Open, 1600 meter autostart
1. Offshore Dream - Pierre Levesque
2. Garland Kronos - Vidar Hop
3. Torvald Palema - Åke Svanstedt
4. Nimrod Borealis - Matthieu Abrivard
5. Igor Font - Björn Goop
6. Scarlets Aino - Hans-Owe Sundberg
7. Maid For Tag - Olov Mikkelborg
8. Colombian Necktie - Örjan Kihlström
9. Glen Kronos - Lutfi Kolgjini
10. Adrian Chip - Robert Bergh

Åke Svanstedt took another important victory today at the V-75. He won Kalmarsundspokalen with Earl Tilly. ÅS won another to races on V-75. He really has his stable going.

The swedish owned horse Sky Launcher took his second victory in France. He ran most of the race outside the leader and got the lead 800 m left. Winning time 15,9/2550 m.

This weekend a new swedish record was broken. Maharajah, trained by Stefan Hultman, won his race in Rättvik and broke the record for 4-year-olds on 2140 m when he ran 12,3. Outstanding!

/Jane

I wrote yesterday about Thomas Uhrberg, now two other accidents has happened. The caretaker of Mutola Bob, a v-75 winner, was kicked by the horse after the race. The kick took her head and she has a bleeding in her back skull, blood in an ear and a fracture in her face. She is still in hospital but in good mood and wish to go back to work as soon as possible.

Another accident to a swede happened in France but turned out more luckily. Johanna Lindquist, daughter of the trainer Anders Lindquist, had to jump out of the sulky in a race when her horse got disturbed by another horse and went down. She was lucky and did not get any injuries. It went worse with another driver in the race, Franck Anne, who was taken to hospital for a bone fracture.

Lutfi Kolgini has decided to accept the invitation to Nat Ray Trot with Glen Kronos and some more horses. Next week 4 two year old will fly over (picture Raja Mirshi who is one of them) and in july glen Kronos and Moonlight Kronos will follow.

/Jane

Just have to brief you a bit of what has happened lately.

Commander Crowe won Kymi Grand Prix eventhough he got very lazy in the lead and won with "a lip".

Triton Sund is still in good shape and he was the winner of Copenhagen Cup. And he won on speed.

Lutfi Kolgini has been invited to race Glen Kronos in Nat Ray Trot on the Meadowlands in august and it seems like Glen will race there.

Adams Hall might race again. After Olympiatravet in april it was decided to stop racing with Adams Hall and let him breed full time. Now the owner Karl-Erik Bender hopes to see Adams on the race track this fall. Hmm, we'll see what Åke Svanstedt says about that:)

The trainer and driver Thomas Uhrberg was kicked by a horse on sunday and is now in hospital, with broken ribs and some internal injuries.

/Jane

Jorma Kontio was supposed to race on Axevalla yesterday and he did one race. After that he gave his drivings to Åke Svanstedt since he didn't feel 100%. Nothing is really wrong but he did not feel comfortable in the situation. He will go for a check up this week. Since his first driving 1967 he has only missed one month before after a bad accident 10 years ago. But he is not worried, he thought it could be some nerves involved.

Stig H Johansson is considering to leave his place in the Discipline Committé after the descision to clear Svanstedt on all charges after Drottning Pokalen. Not because of Svanstedt but due to the signals this will give in the future. He has not made up his mind yet but is waiting for the comments about the clearing.

The startlist of Copenhage Cup, Denmarks biggest race, is ready and the horses competing are:

Horses - Copenhagen Cup 2009
Ghibellino (defender of the title)
Inzaghi D.K.
Oyonnax
Quarcio Du Chene
Russel November
Triton Sund
Garland Kronos
Finders Keepers
Classic Grand Cru
Kanonis Lobell

Commander Crowe will race in Kymi Grand Prix in Finland. The startlist looks as follows:

Horse - Driver
Jaded - Örjan Kihlström
Commander Crowe - Peter Ingves
Colombian Necktie - Thomas Uhrberg
Dig For Dollars - Jim Oscarsson
Marathon Man - Björn Goop
Oceano Noix - Pierre Levesque
G. Moll - Akseli Lahtinen
E.L.Mikko - Jarmo Immonen
Express Merett - Janne Korpi
Photon - Pekka Korpi

/Jane

The suspension of 28 days and a fine of 100 000 swedish crowns for giving advantage for a competetor and not driving for best position is now abolished. It could not be proved that so was the case and an interview in TV is not evidence enough. So Svansted will continue to race and saves 100 000:-)

After 3 years Johnny Takter has decided not to work with Kari Lädhikorpi and Kari is not surprised, he says himself that: "Takter probably realised that I am not like a normal person, not wanting to blame myself if the horses don't do good". He is known to be difficult to work with and has already had trouble with other drivers like Thomas Uhrberg, Erik Adielsson and Stefan Söderkvist.

The australien participent Sundon's Gift in Elitloppet will stay a while in Sweden. He is signed up to race in Boden, in the race Norbottens Stora Pris. Amongst others he will meet Giant Superman

/Jane

The day was filled with excellent races, splendid weather (actually some were taken to the hospital for fainting in the heat) and over 30 000 in the public, the rest you can imagine.

But the main attraction was Elitloppet and the two heats were very exciting. The first heat was won by Sahara Dynamite, leading from start to finish, on the time 1,09.8. He was like a flash from the gate. Wow! The other heat was won by Jaded on the time 1,09.7. Wow again!

And the startlist in the final was:
1 Jaded
2 Sahara Dynamite
3 Triton Sund
4 Torvald Palema
5 Nimrod Borealis
6 Scarlets Aino
7 Offshore Dream
8 Igor Font

And the winner was Torvald Palema and Åke Svanstedt. I can admit that I was crying when he won and when I saw Svanstedt crying in the winning circle. He got the question if he could tell how it felt and he said he couldn't, voice breaking. Svanstedt is not know to show any emotions (Mr Grumpy and Mr Stoneface:-) but as he said, when he could speak again: "this is the best thing that could have happened to me now" refearing to his upcoming courtcase and his punishment after Drottning Pokalen.

The first three were:
1 Torvald Palema 10.4
2 Jaded 10.5
3 Offshore Dream 10.5

Maybe the boss will give some more info or otherwise this will due for today:-)/Jane

Or also called the little Elitloppet was the main attraction today at Solvalla. The first heat was won by Colombian Necktie with Tim Tetrick in the sulky. And the second heat was won by Evidence Ås and Erik Adielsson. But the finals was won by the outsider Express Merett, trained and driven by Pekka Korpi, Finland's best trainer.

I was happy to see that Ålarökaren managed to get a place in the final. This horse is a small warrior, trained by the amateur Lars-Olof Spång from my hometrack Åby. Spång has sold some horses down to Malta, for exemple OnOff and Goldbowler, and I am not surprised if we will see Ålarökaren in the startlists on Malta in the future.

Harpers Hanovers was another big race today, with the distance of 3140 m. Winner was Scargel, driven by Björn Goop and the trainer is Timo Nurmos. Superior As and Charles Degorgio was first without money.

Don't you think it is strange that I am writing about what is happening in Sweden when the Boss is there with first hand information./Jane