On Sunday afternoon Stall Perlen’s unbeaten Voix Du Maitre (Appel Au Maitre) meets seven rivals of his own age in the Mr Ascot Vinterfavoriternas Pris, the biggest race of the day at Bro Park with 450.000 Swedish kronor on offer. His sire won the same race in 2006, and in the same owner’s colours.
Sunday also decides four Swedish championships, and last year’s winner of the Vinterfavoriternas Pris, the Danish-bred Taifuu (Japan), is back for the Appel Au Maitre Stockholm Fillies & Mares Stakes. Nine contests with 70 declared runners and 2.191.170 Swedish kronor in total prize money begin at 11.50.
Unbeaten, but untried at the trip
Eight two-year-olds are declared for the Mr Ascot Vinterfavoriternas Pris over 1600 metres on turf at 13.53, and 225.000 Swedish kronor goes to the winner.
Voix Du Maitre has won all three starts of his career: a two-year-old race over 900 metres at Øvrevoll in July, the Breeders’ Trophy Juvenile over 1400 metres at Bro Park in August and Dansk Galops Auktionsløb over 1400 metres at Klampenborg on 19 September. The three wins have brought in 872.090 Swedish kronor, and his rating of 81 is the highest in the field.
He runs in Stall Perlen’s colours, was bred by Stall Perlen, is trained by Jan-Erik Neuroth and ridden by Oliver Wilson.
What nobody has seen yet is Voix Du Maitre over 1600 metres, but everything suggests that the extra distance will only be in his favour.
Neuroth saddles three of the eight. Besides Voix Du Maitre he runs Bourbon Blaze (Victor Ludorum), who has two seconds from two starts, and Alonzo (Alson), who was third in the Skandinavisk Mesterskap for 2-årige at Øvrevoll on 27 September.
The closest on paper is Caledon Boy (Calyx) on a rating of 80. He won a maiden at Bro Park in August and was third in the Appel Au Maitre Svealandlöpning on 20 September, with Mr Handsome (Bayside Boy) fourth.
Inzain Bling (Hello Youmzain) won a two-year-old race at Øvrevoll on 16 September by five and a half lengths from Alonzo, and Great Lou (Calyx) won her two-year-old race at Bro Park on 26 September. We’regoingtoibiza (Bayside Boy) is unbeaten in her only start.
His sire won it himself
Appel Au Maitre won the Vinterfavoriternas Pris in 2006 — for Stall Perlen, trained by Wido Neuroth and ridden by Eddie Ahern. It is the same stable that sends out his son on Sunday.
Stall Perlen has won the race five times before: Valley Chapel in 1998, Appel Au Maitre in 2006, Handsome Hawk in 2008, I And I in 2017 and Appelino in 2023. Appelino is himself out of an Appel Au Maitre mare. Jan-Erik Neuroth rode the two most recent of them.
The man behind the race name has been there before as well: Mr Ascot — Finn Blichfeldt — was the owner of the 2011 winner, Buzz Lightyear.
Appel Au Maitre looms large over the whole card. Six of his offspring are declared, and the day’s feature for fillies and mares carries his name.
Last year’s winner is back
The Appel Au Maitre Stockholm Fillies & Mares Stakes over 2100 metres at 13.06 is worth 250.000 Swedish kronor and has seven mares declared — and two of them were bred at Stutteri Hjortebo.
Taifuu won the Vinterfavoriternas Pris a year ago in 1.37,7 and is the only Danish-bred winner of the race in our own list. She has since won the Mawj Stakes at Meydan and the Bet25 Larch Ærespræmie at Klampenborg, and she has 1.643.859 Swedish kronor in the bank from ten starts. Søren Jensen trains, Oliver Wilson rides and Jakobsen & Rasmussen I/S own.
The other Hjortebo-bred is A Million Dreams (Moohaajim), who was second in the Breeders’ Trophy Mile on 30 August. She is out of a mare by Appel Au Maitre — Baltic Exchange.
Ninasimone (Rio De La Plata) won the race last year for Patrick Wahl and is back. The highest rated is Mehmas Air Force (Mehmas), who won the Lanwades Stud Stakes at Bro Park on 20 September and the Tattersalls Norsk 1000 Guineas in July.
Meelaf (Iffraaj) won the Adalöpning in Gothenburg on 3 October, and Mazikeen (Appel Au Maitre) and Bay Princess (New Bay) complete the field.
Four championships
SM 2-åriga over 1200 metres at 14.18 is the second biggest race of the day with 400.000 Swedish kronor and 15 declared. Flamboyant (Mustajeeb) won the Jockeyklubbens Magic Million on the same course on 20 September and a first prize of 500.000 Swedish kronor.
Chariot (Barocci) was second in that race, Hello Darling (Alson) third and Nocturne Belle (Appel Au Maitre) fourth — and Nocturne Belle has since won a maiden at Bro Park on 7 October.
Patrick Wahl has five of the 15 and has won the race in 2019, 2020 and 2024. Last year’s winner, Strike Ten (Alson), is also out on Sunday — in SM – Classic.
SM – Sprinters over 1400 metres at 12.20 is worth 300.000 Swedish kronor and has seven runners. The richest is Albarella (Toronado), who is trained in Denmark by Lea Olsen and has won the Dansk 2000 Guineas and the Jydsk Derby this year — Swedish-bred, but Danish-trained. He was withdrawn from his latest engagement at Jägersro on 23 September. Golden Grace (Jimmy Mack) was second in the Rosengårdlöpning on 4 October.
SM – Classic over 2100 metres at 14.42 has drawn only five, but three of them are Wahl’s. Disraeli (Barocci) has the highest rating on the card, 90, and ran last in the Stockholm Cup International.
Falkor (Barocci) has 12 wins and more than 1,7 million Swedish kronor to his name. Espen Hill, who has won the race four times since 2020, is not declared.
The fourth championship of the day is SM för amatörryttare over 1600 metres at 13.29, where 12 horses are declared for 100.000 Swedish kronor.
The rest of the day
The first numbered race of the day is the Mischa Kahns Minneslöpning at 11.50: 1600 metres on the dirt track for three-year-olds, 225.000 Swedish kronor and only four runners. Ferrari BF (Mo Town) has a rating of 89 and was third in the SFK Jubileumslöpning at Jägersro on 4 October.
The Ellicat Sprint at 12.43 is a handicap over 1200 metres for fillies and mares worth 124.000 Swedish kronor. Crystal Love (Oasis Dream) carries top weight of 64 kilos, while Irish Lioness (Invincible Army) turns out on 62 kilos after her win in the Lanwades Stud Fillies and Mares Stakes at Øvrevoll in August.
The day closes at 15.05 with the final of the Novisserien häck over 3450 metres. Tobias Hellgren trains three of the five, among them the Danish-bred Ghost Town (Go Go Gadget), who won the fourth leg in Gothenburg on 3 October.
