Nobody had reckoned with Stepdance. Bent Olsen’s two-year-old gelding was sent off at 30.69 in the Herman Sallings Mindeløb Danish Criterium, but on the line he was a head better than the favourite Mallee Sand.
Stepdance (Al Shemali) got the better of Søren Jensen’s Mallee Sand (Footstepsinthesand) in a tight finish over the 1400 metres, and from there it was a full eight lengths back to the Niels Petersen-trained Huntington (Hunter’s Light).
The first prize of DKK 150,000 went to Stald Spitco.
Maikel Narvaez Bravo rode the winner, who was bred by Berner Olsen.
It was Stepdance’s first win, and it came at the third attempt. His two previous starts had produced a fourth and a fifth, and on the soft autumn ground he delivered a thumping step up in form.
The race had otherwise been billed as a contest between the established two-year-old names. Bettina Andersen’s La Belle Appelée (Appel Au Maitre) won the Stutteri Hjortebo Produce Stakes on 18 July with Stepdance behind her in the prize money, and Mallee Sand was third in the Goffs Futurity Stakes behind the dominant Romanov (Starspangledbanner).
On Saturday Stepdance turned the whole thing on its head, while the Produce Stakes winner came home seventh.
Behind the first three came Lokalebasen.dk’s Storm Shadow (Appel Au Maitre) and Lea Olsen’s Happytobealive (Appel Au Maitre) in the last of the prize-money places.
Bent Olsen had three of the twelve runners — besides the winner also Half Angel (Moohaajim) and Fuerza (Red Cactus).
Stepdance became the second Danish Criterium winner sired by the stallion Al Shemali (Medicean). My Jamil was the first in 2020, and Stepdance is bred by Berner Olsen just as she was.
Stepdance is also out of the former two-year-old star Hongkong Paradigm (Pistachio), who — in Bent Olsen’s care — won both the Skandinavisk Opdrætningsløb and Dansk Galops Auktionsløb back in 2015.
Hongkong Paradigm is herself a full sister to the Winterfavourite Silverstone, who later also became a dual Oaks winner – likewise for Bent Olsen – and their dam, Loquita (Final Appearance), won the Danish Oaks among others under Hanne Bechmann.
Stepdance provided Criterium triumph number seven in all for Klampenborg’s reigning champion trainer Bent Olsen.
It was the fourth in Denmark after Reventon (2008), Falconet (2012) and Kis Me Again (2024), while he has also won with Elusive Time (2010) and Queen Estoril (2017) in the Norsk Kriterium, plus the Svenskt Kriterium in 2013 with Hongkong Star.
Klampenborg · Ladies’ Day
The day in numbers
The star of the day
Niels Petersen
The Dansk Oaks with Lady Irene and the Racing Club Klampenborg Racing Bowl with Grey Tycoon — plus 2nd in the Oaks with Jazz and 3rd in the Dansk Kriterium with Huntington.
2 / 5wins from runners
31.9%of the day’s prize money
310,000DKK on the day
The trainers’ championship Lea Olsen led by DKK 195,820 before the meeting — Petersen is now in front by 4,670
Trainerstop 7 by prize money won
| 1 | Niels Petersen | 2 wins | DKK 310,000 | |
| 2 | Bent Olsen | 1 win | DKK 162,170 | |
| 3 | Lea Olsen | 3 wins | DKK 109,510 | |
| 4 | Søren Jensen | 0 wins | DKK 101,000 | |
| 5 | Bettina Andersen | 1 win | DKK 79,260 | |
| 6 | Tina Mortensen | 0 wins | DKK 50,000 | |
| 7 | Jan-Erik Neuroth | 0 wins | DKK 35,000 |
Jockeystop 7 by prize money won
| 1 | Carlos Lopez | 2 wins | DKK 253,970 | |
| 2 | Oliver Wilson | 1 win | DKK 173,750 | |
| 3 | Maikel Narvaez Bravo | 1 win | DKK 170,750 | |
| 4 | Per-Anders Gråberg | 2 wins | DKK 78,750 | |
| 5 | Lorenzo Putzulu | 0 wins | DKK 75,000 | |
| 6 | Mikkel Mortensen | 1 win | DKK 52,650 | |
| 7 | Diego Pedroza | 0 wins | DKK 50,000 |
Ownerstop 7 by prize money won
| 1 |  Stald Spitco | 1 win | DKK 150,000 | |
| 2 |  Stall United | 1 win | DKK 150,000 | |
| 3 |  Elkær Stutteri | 1 win | DKK 125,000 | |
| 4 |  Waleed Zawawi | 0 wins | DKK 93,250 | |
| 5 |  Lokalebasen.dk A/S | 0 wins | DKK 50,000 | |
| 6 |  My Stable, Kirk, Tom, Hanne og Bettina | 1 win | DKK 36,500 | |
| 7 |  JWC Bloodstock Ltd | 0 wins | DKK 35,000 |
Sirestop 7 by prize money won
| 1 | Study Of Man | 1 win | DKK 185,000 | |
| 2 | Appel Au Maitre | 2 wins | DKK 152,090 | |
| 3 | Al Shemali | 1 win | DKK 150,000 | |
| 4 | Footstepsinthesand | 1 win | DKK 97,500 | |
| 5 | Juniper Tree | 0 wins | DKK 91,950 | |
| 6 | Dark Angel | 1 win | DKK 50,000 | |
| 7 | Hunter’s Light | 0 wins | DKK 43,760 |
Breederstop 7 by prize money won
| 1 | Berner Olsen | 1 win | DKK 150,000 | |
| 2 | Ballylinch Stud | 1 win | DKK 150,000 | |
| 3 | Stutteri Hjortebo | 3 wins | DKK 106,120 | |
| 4 | Waleed Zawawi | 0 wins | DKK 75,000 | |
| 5 | Elkær Stutteri | 0 wins | DKK 75,000 | |
| 6 | Stutteri Stork | 1 win | DKK 66,260 | |
| 7 | Yeomanstown Stud | 1 win | DKK 50,000 |
Trained in
| 1 | Denmark48 runners | 6 wins | DKK 560,960 | |
| 2 | Norway7 runners | 2 wins | DKK 345,000 | |
| 3 | Sweden15 runners | 1 win | DKK 65,600 |
Bred in
| 1 | Denmark20 runners | 5 wins | DKK 553,820 | |
| 2 | Ireland7 runners | 2 wins | DKK 224,940 | |
| 3 | Sweden8 runners | 1 win | DKK 118,950 | |
| 4 | France5 runners | 1 win | DKK 67,450 | |
| 5 | Great Britain2 runners | 0 wins | DKK 6,400 |
Only the five prize-money positions in each race count — bonuses and honorary prizes are not included.
Top 7 per category by prize money won. Breeders of foreign-bred horses were looked up in the Swedish Jockey Club’s horse register.
GalopSport.dkSource: Dansk Galop’s sports system and Svensk Galopp’s horse register
