Finlandia-Ajo is an annual Group One

Group One

Group One or Group 1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. Group One races may be run under handicap conditions in Australia but in Europe weight-for-age conditions always apply. Races may be also restricted to age groups or a...

 harness event

Harness racing

Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

 that takes place at Vermo Racetrack in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. The competition, which was inaugurated in 1980, is regarded as Finland's biggest trotting event. It is raced over the mile, 1,609 meters. Finlandia-Ajo is part of the European Grand Circuit and the overall purse for the 2009 event was €190,000, equalling approximately US$247,000. The fastest winning time in the history of the race is 1:10.8, run by Opal Viking in 2007.

Racing conditions

Finlandia-Ajo is decided through a one-mile race. The first eight years (1980-1987), the race was over a slightly shorter distance (1,600 meters, 0.99 mile), but since 1988, the distance has been one mile. The race has always been started by the use of auto start.

The starting list

1. Turnaround - Lutfi Kolgjini
2. Copper Beech - Conrad Lugauer
3. Igor Font - Jean-Michel Bazire (Fabrice Souloy)
4. Photocopy - Antti Teivainen (Lars-Erik Stenberg)
5. Lönshults Danne - Johanna Lindqvist (Anders Lindqvist)
6. Le Retour - Vincent Viel (Jean-Pierre Viel)
7. Simb Chaplin - Markku Nieminen
8. Shorthanded Goal - Mauri Jaara
9. Camilla Highness - Peter Ingves (Petri Puro)

French stallion Igor Font, trained by Fabrice Souloy and driven by Jean-Michel Bazire

Jean-Michel Bazire

Jean-Michel Bazire is a noted French harness racing driver. In 1999 he won the Prix d'Amérique driving Moni Maker. In 2004 he was the driver for Kesaco Phedo who also won the Prix.- References :...

, was considered to be the favourite.

The race

Turnaround took the lead initially, but handed it over to Copper Beech at an early stage. Favourite Igor Font followed in third and made his move down the back stretch when he followed Turnaround forward when Kolgjini moved out his Swedish stallion and attacked. Down the home stretch, Igor Font sprinted away and won the race easily. Lönshults Danne provided an inspired finish to end as runner-up and Camilla Highness came in third.

The winning time for the French 5-year-old after Andover Hall, was 1:55.3 (mile rate)/1:11.8 (km rate). The winner's share of the purse was €110,000 (US$145,000).

Drivers with most wins

• 3 - Jean-Michel Bazire
  Jean-Michel Bazire
  Jean-Michel Bazire is a noted French harness racing driver. In 1999 he won the Prix d'Amérique driving Moni Maker. In 2004 he was the driver for Kesaco Phedo who also won the Prix.- References :...
  
   (2005, 2008, 2009)
• 3 - Stig H. Johansson
  Stig H. Johansson
  Stig Henry Johansson is a Swedish trotting trainer and former driver. He started his career as a professional trainer in 1969, and has during a large part of the career been a dominating force in Swedish trotting. He is, arguably, the greatest in Swedish trotting history. Internationally, he is...
  
   (1988, 1989, 2004)
• 3 - Jorma Kontio (1985, 1986, 2007)
• 2 - Olle Goop (1983, 1987)
• 2 - Joseph Verbeeck (1998, 2003)

Trainers with most wins

• 3 - Fabrice Souloy (2003, 2008, 2009)
• 2 - Jean-Etienne Dubois (1999, 2000)
• 2 - Stig Engberg (1988, 1989)
• 2 - Olle Goop (1983, 1987)

Sires with most winning offsprings

• 2 - Biesolo (Giesolo de Lou, Oiseau de Feux)
• 2 - Quick Pay (Atas Fighter L., Born Quick)
• 2 - Texas (Grades Singing, Copiad)
• 2 - Super Bowl (Davidia Hanover, Napoletano)

All winners of Finlandia-Ajo

Year	Horse	Driver	Trainer	Winning horse's native country	Winning time
2009	Igor Font	Jean-Michel Bazire Jean-Michel Bazire Jean-Michel Bazire is a noted French harness racing driver. In 1999 he won the Prix d'Amérique driving Moni Maker. In 2004 he was the driver for Kesaco Phedo who also won the Prix.- References :...	Fabrice Souloy		1:11.8
2008	Oiseau de Feux	Jean-Michel Bazire	Fabrice Souloy		1:11.3
2007	Opal Viking	Jorma Kontio	Nils Enqvist		1:10.8
2006	Hot Shot Knick	Thomas Uhrberg	Kari Lähdekorpi		1:11.5
2005	Kart de Baudrairie	Jean-Michel Bazire	Franck Leblanc		1:12.2
2004	Rotation	Stig H. Johansson Stig H. Johansson Stig Henry Johansson is a Swedish trotting trainer and former driver. He started his career as a professional trainer in 1969, and has during a large part of the career been a dominating force in Swedish trotting. He is, arguably, the greatest in Swedish trotting history. Internationally, he is...	Stig H. Johansson		1:12.5
2003	Kiwi	Joseph Verbeeck	Fabrice Souloy		1:12.0
2002	H.P. Paque	Trond Smedshammer	Trond Smedshammer		1:11.7
2001	B.W.T. Magic	Ahti Antti-Roiko	Matti Salmi		1:11.2
2000	Giesolo de Lou	Jean-Etienne Dubois	Jean-Etienne Dubois		1:11.2
1999	Giesolo de Lou	Pierre Vercruysse	Jean-Etienne Dubois		1:11.6
1998	Dryade des Bois	Joseph Verbeeck	Jean-Baptiste Bossuet		1:12.5
1997	Zoogin Zoogin Zoogin was a Swedish racing trotter by Zoot Suit out of Ginjette by Lornjett.His most prestigious victories include the Swedish Trotting Criterium , Oslo Grand Prix , Finlandia-Ajo and Copenhagen Cup . At the end of his career, the stallion had earned US$2,989,271...	Åke Svanstedt	Åke Svanstedt		1:12.1
1996	Isla J. Brave	Aki Antti-Roiko	Petri Klemola		1:12.5
1995	SJ's Photo	David Wade	David Wade		1:13.3
1994	Copiad Copiad Copiad is a Swedish breeding stallion and former racing trotter by Texas out of Bibbi Girl by Big Lama.His most prestigious victories include Elitloppet , Oslo Grand Prix , Finlandia-Ajo and Olympiatravet . At the end of his career, the stallion had earned US$2,416,093...	Erik Berglöf	Erik Berglöf		1:12.5
1993	Born Quick	Tommy Hanné	Tommy Hanné		1:12.1
1992	Otto-Mani	Antti Teivainen	Esa Aronen		1:13.7
1991	Atas Fighter L.	Torbjörn Jansson	Torbjörn Jansson		1:13.5
1990	Florida Jewel	William Fahy	John Holloway		1:13.3
1989	Napoletano	Stig H. Johansson	Stig Engberg		1:12.9
1988	Napoletano	Stig H. Johansson	Stig Engberg		1:14.1
1987	Grades Singing	Olle Goop	Olle Goop		1:14.1
1986	Davidia Hanover	Jorma Kontio	Per Eriksson		1:14.7
1985	Keystone Patton	Jorma Kontio	Antti Savolainen		1:14.1
1984	Shane T. Hanover	Per Henriksen	Per Henriksen		1:14.9
1983	Speedy Magnus	Olle Goop	Olle Goop		1:13.2
1982	Dartster F.	Olle Hedin	Olle Hedin		1:13.9
1981	Ideal du Gazeau	Eugene Lefevre	Eugene Lefevre		1:14.3
1980	Ejakval	Jean-Claude David	Jean-Claude David		1:15.6