Long before the day took the turn nobody wanted, Øvrevoll was well on the way to belonging to Niels Petersen. The trainer legged Carlos Lopez up for the first three races of the day – and won all three.
The most valuable of them was the opening feature, the Norsk Kriterium over 1370 metres, where Elkær Stutteri’s Romanov (Starspangledbanner) collected the NOK 175,000 first prize.
There were nine lengths back to Kieran Watson-trained Al Rihla (Caturra), with a further good length to Petersen’s debutant Inzain Bling (Hello Youmzain) in third. Jan-Erik Neuroth’s Appelon (Appel Au Maitre) was fourth.
Romanov has now won all three times he has run. He made his debut at Øvrevoll on 3 July with a five-length win in the season’s first two-year-old race – and that was in front of Al Rihla – before following up in the Goffs Futurity Stakes on Klampenborg’s Derby day.
That makes him a dual big-race winner before the calendar even reads September. Romanov was bought at the Goffs Orby Sale at Kildare Paddocks through the agent Edgar Byrne and is the third winner out of My Call (Shamardal), whose dam Hush Money won both the Derby and the Oaks in Chile.
“This horse is so good that he deserves to be tried outside Scandinavia. He is entered for a Group race at Baden-Baden in September, but that probably comes too soon after today’s run, so we will keep looking around for an exciting international target. He is also entered for both the Svealandlöpning and Vinterfavoriternas Pris at Bro Park,” said Niels Petersen after the win.
The second win followed soon afterwards in the Bristol Spa Sølvdivisjon Sprint over 1170 metres, where Petersen’s own Sign O’The Times (Kuroshio) crossed the line just in front of Corazon De Leon (Slade Power).
A further good length back came Buenos Dias (Cotai Glory) in third. Sign O’The Times was bred by Loughill Farm and is out of Ballet Dancer (Refuse To Bend).
And then the treble was in the bag in the Drømmemilen for Norwegian-bred horses, the most valuable of the day’s five completed races with NOK 267,750 to the winner.
Stall NOK’s Sporty (Moohaajim) ran his rivals ragged and pulled almost eleven lengths clear of Gina Mathisen-trained Miss Hurricane (Quarterback), while there was only the minimum further back to Jan-Erik Neuroth’s Charlie Nosto (Mutajally) in third.
Sporty was born in Denmark but bred in Norway by Øien Gård, and he is the third winner out of the Special Quest mare Sweety. That makes him a half-brother to, among others, I Rest My Case, who won six races and earned around NOK 1.3 million.
Sporty won both his debut and the Forsommerløpet in the spring, on both occasions by four lengths and on both occasions under Lopez.
The day did not, as we know, get the continuation it promised.
After the fifth race the rest of Norway’s Derby day was abandoned, and the five missing races will be run on Tuesday. The Range Rover Norsk Derby is still to come, a race in which Petersen had five horses in the original field of 13.
