When Niels Petersen chose a Class 1 handicap at Bro Park over the Pokalløb at Klampenborg in July, the explanation was simple: Grab The Moment was being readied for the Breeders’ Trophy Mile. On Sunday afternoon, Stall Trick Or Treat’s four-year-old Go Go Gadget gelding did the job as if he were in a class of his own, winning the mile contest worth SEK 800,000 by five lengths.
Grab The Moment (Go Go Gadget) and Carlos Lopez enjoyed a perfect trip just behind Golden Dreams (Girolamo) and Bang A Boomerang (Zaahid), who set the pace over the first 200 metres. Bang A Boomerang briefly took over at the head of affairs entering the straight, but once Grab The Moment was given his marching orders, the race was settled in a few strides.
Five lengths back came Cathrine Erichsen’s A Million Dreams (Moohaajim), finishing well in second, a length ahead of Bang A Boomerang, while Lea Olsen’s Zarina (Appel Au Maitre) was fourth half a length further away. Rock Of Hope (Rock Of Gibraltar) picked up the final prize.
No Surrender (Giant Sandman), who has twice beaten Grab The Moment at Bro Park – most recently in last year’s Breeders’ Trophy Classic – was never involved in the finish this time and came home sixth.
“Grab The Moment is one of the big favourites in the stable. A real champion. As long as No Surrender didn’t get involved in the closing battle, I felt calm,” said Carlos Lopez after the race.
The first prize of SEK 400,000 made it a sixth career win from nine starts for the dark brown gelding, who went into the race on a field-high handicap mark of 89.
He has now won four races in a row since finishing second to No Surrender last September: first a three-year-old race at Øvrevoll, then the Dansk Breeders’ Cup at Klampenborg in June, the Class 1 handicap at Bro Park in July and now the Breeders’ Trophy Mile. His career earnings stand at SEK 2,676,362.
“Grab The Moment is a talented and late-developing horse who is still lightly raced. The way the race unfolded, it became very easy for him today. Hopefully he can take the step up and meet the Scandinavian elite next year,” Niels Petersen told Svensk Galopp.
Grab The Moment was bred by Tanja Ravn Myhre and was born and raised at York Stutteri, which enjoyed quite a day at Bro Park – just over an hour earlier, Ice And Fire, who also grew up at the stud, had won her own feature in the ITM Amacitalöpning.
“A fantastically big and beautiful horse. His career progression is something special to us, because we owned both his dam and his sire,” said Stall Trick Or Treat’s Morten Myhre in the winner’s interview afterwards.
For A Million Dreams, second place was worth SEK 200,000 to BFP Racing – and the grey mare got family company just three quarters of an hour later, when her full brother King To Be also finished second in the Breeders’ Trophy Classic. Both are by Moohaajim out of Baltic Exchange and were bred at Stutteri Hjortebo.
