Øvrevoll stages eight races on Sunday for a total of 1,168,800 kroner, and at 13.10 Lady Irene can do something no filly has done in the history of Scandinavian racing: win all three Oaks. The Erik O. Steen Norwegian Oaks over 2,400 metres is the last classic of the year in Norway and the day’s biggest contest with 350,000 kroner in prize money. The first race is at 11.50.
The treble nobody has taken
Lady Irene (Study Of Man) won the Swedish Oaks at Jägersro on 2 August by a length and the Danish Oaks at Klampenborg on 5 September by three, both times under Carlos Lopez. That makes her the 22nd filly to have won two of the three Scandinavian Oaks.
Twelve of them took the Danish-Swedish double, five the Danish-Norwegian and five the Swedish-Norwegian. None has won all three.
The most recent was Silverstone in 2019, who took the Danish and Norwegian Oaks for Kjeldsbjerggaard ApS from Bent Olsen’s stable; the Danish-Swedish double had not been seen since Halfsong in 2003.
The brown filly was bred by Ballylinch Stud in Ireland, out of the Galileo mare Special Gal, and she has 972,157 kroner in the bank from eight starts and three wins. The first came in The Heatherwold Cup at Øvrevoll last year – the same race, albeit in a new form, that opens Sunday’s card at 11.50.
A reunion from the Danish Oaks
The Oaks field numbers five fillies, and four of them met in the Danish Oaks. Behind Lady Irene came Elkær Stutteri’s own breeding Jazz (Juniper Tree) in second, Stall Perlen’s Nouvelle Fleur (Study Of Man) third and Bahia Mar (Swipe) ninth.
Niels Petersen trains Jazz and Bahia Mar as well, so he sends three of the five to post. Bahia Mar was third in the Swedish Oaks, a length and a half behind her stablemate, and is ridden by Per-Anders Gråberg – who won the race for Petersen in 2022 with Crack The Sky (Nathaniel).
The fifth is Stall GM’s Miss Hurricane (Quarterback), and she is the second-best earner in the field with 543,707 kroner. She has been second in three big races in a row this year, and the margin has shrunk every time: nine lengths behind Sporty in the Drømmemilen, three behind Another Beauty in the Norsk Mesterskap for 3-åringer and a single length behind the same filly in the Breeders’ Prize Classic. Gina Mathisen trains, Willa Synøve M. Schou rides.
Nouvelle Fleur is by the same sire as Lady Irene and has yet to win in nine starts, but she was fourth in the Norwegian Derby.
A free covering by Red Cactus
The winner takes home more than 175,000 kroner. Stutteri Hjortebo is offering a free covering before 2028 by their Swedish Derby winner Red Cactus to the winning filly, and there is an honorary prize for the owner and a memorial prize for the trainer and the rider.
The course record for 2,400 metres on turf still stands in the name of Bechmann Racing’s La Isleta – 2.28,8 from the Norwegian Derby on 21 August 1988, set by a three-year-old filly carrying 56 kilos who went on to win the Norwegian Oaks the same year. Last year’s winner, Mauna Queen, won in 2.41,6.
Derby winner against Breeders’ winner
Fearnleyløpet over 1,800 metres at 12.20 is for Norwegian-bred horses and pays 91,000 kroner to the winner. Here the Norwegian Derby winner Super Smooth (Quarterback) meets the Breeders’ Prize Classic winner Another Beauty (Appel Au Maitre), and the weight difference is three kilos in the filly’s favour: 62 against 59.
Another Beauty was foaled in Denmark but bred in Norway – which is why she is eligible for a race open only to Norwegian-breds. She grew up at Øien Gård with Knut Martin Torgersen alongside Sporty, and she has won her two latest starts: the Norsk Mesterskap for 3-åringer by three lengths and the Breeders’ Prize Classic by one.
Super Smooth has earned 1,040,484 kroner from eleven starts and beat Another Beauty over 1,800 metres on 16 July. Cathrine Erichsen runs Kill That Cat and Zofi; she won the race three years in a row from 2021 to 2023 with Purple Ace.
The sprint: 64 against 50 kilos
Norsk Galopp Sprintløp over 1,170 metres at 12.45 is the day’s other big purse, also 91,000 kroner to the winner, and the weight range is the widest on the card. Väsby Häst AB’s nine-year-old Youonlyliveonce (Sidestep) has the highest rating in the field and carries 64 kilos with 1,916,418 kroner from 76 starts, while Corazon De Leon runs off 50.
Elkær Stutteri’s Ides Of March (Wootton Bassett) has earned 1,422,459 kroner from just seventeen starts and carries 63. Niels Petersen trains both him and Hunters Lullaby (Footstepsinthesand) in the same race.
Hyldmo had the plan ready
Major Chr F Michelets Minneløp over 2,830 metres at 13.35 is the longest race of the day. Stall Lilleville’s Light Garden (Almanzor) won the Norsk Galopp Cup – Sølvstayer on 16 September, and his trainer Are Hyldmo said it himself afterwards:
“Now we will have to see whether he lines up in the Major Chr. F. Michelets Minneløp later in the autumn, but whatever happens it will be exciting to see what we can get out of him next year.”
He lines up with 64 kilos, and the two he beat that day come with him: Captain Chorus has the top weight of 65, and My French Dream comes from the same stable. Last year’s winner Redirect is not in the field, but Tobias Hellgren and Anna Pilroth, who were behind that win, line up instead with Trickstar. Add Annike Bye Hansen’s Mauna Queen – the winner of the Norwegian Oaks last year.
Two-year-olds twice
The day opens and closes with two-year-olds. The Heatherwold Cup over 1,600 metres has six in the field, four of them by Appel Au Maitre, and Jan-Erik Neuroth trains four of them. The only winner in the field is Stall GM’s Orkan Q, who carries 60 kilos against the others’ 58.
Øvrevoll Hesteeierforening Vandrepokal over 1,170 metres at 14.50 is for Norwegian-bred two-year-olds, and four fillies line up – two of them on debut.
The rest of the day
The two middle races are the only ones on the dirt track. Bronsedivisjon over 1,600 metres at 14.00 has ten runners, and Høstbonus Grunnsprint over 1,100 metres at 14.25 has eleven – the biggest field of the day.
Seven of the day’s 54 horses were foaled in Denmark, and Niels Petersen has eight in the programme, more than any other trainer. Per-Anders Gråberg has seven rides, the most on the day. The V64 pool carries a jackpot of 386,245 Swedish kronor on top.
