Finnish Horse Racing | Harness Racing in Finland

Finnish Horse Racing: Have You Ever Bet on a Harness Race?

Harness racing is a big business in Finland. All the horses are either typical standardbreds or a coldblood breed, which are called Finnhorses. There is not much interest in gallop racing because harness racing is the country’s passion. Horse races take place in Finland every day of the year, apart from Christmas Day. During the course of the horse racing season in Finland, more than 8,000 horses race at least once – only ice hockey gets more spectators than harness racing.

All Round Entertainment

There are harness races that are more prestigious than others. You will be entertained regardless of the harness race that you attend, but the ones that you should keep a look out for are the Suurkilpailu competitions, which is a harness race that has a purse of more than 10,000 Euros. All of these races are controlled by the Finnish trotting and breeding association, with the most important ones being the Finlandia-Ajo, Kymi Grand Prix, and the St. Michel.

Finns love to gamble and this has made horse racing betting in Finland a popular pastime for many. People go to watch harness racing events for the entertainment that is on offer, but they boost the entertainment levels even more by placing a bet on the action. Cheering on a horse to win a race is really fun, but you can boost the entertainment levels tenfold by putting money on a horse and then cheering it on.

Below we are going to take a closer look at some of the biggest harness races in a little bit more detail.

Finlandia-Ajo

This is a Group One harness race that takes place each year at the Vermo Racetrack that is situated in Helsinki. This race, which is Finland’s biggest harness racing event, is run over 1 mile and is one of the races that make up the European Grand Circuit. The purse for this race stands at an impressive $250,000. Jean-Michel Bazire holds the record as the driver with the most wins as he won in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2011. Despite this being a Finnish race, drivers and horses from other countries compete in it too, with France leading the way with 11 wins – Finland has just the four wins.

Lotteria-ajo

This is a yearly harness race that is open to horses of both sexes that are older than four years old. This race takes place in a variety of locations across Finland, and these are Vieremä, Jyväskylä, Joensuu, Kuopio, Mikkeli, and Lappeenranta. While some races require that the participating horses have been born in Finland, there are no restrictions for this race. Horses are eligible to compete no matter where they were born. If a mare wins the race, there can be winnings of up to 100,000 Euro, while if a gelding or a stallion wins the race, the winnings can go up to 60,000.

Jokimaa Tekee Tähtiä

This is an annual race that takes place in Jokimaa each year. It is a race that is open to all, but there is a fee of 150 Euros for those that want to take part. Also, participating horses have to be registered in Finland and cannot have won more than 17,000 Euros in prize money. The winner of the race can claim a prize of up to 10,000 Euros.  

Olympia-ajo

This is a yearly race that is open to horses that are five years or older and of both sexes. There are three different elimination races held in order to see which horses will be competing in the final. This race is run over 2000m, and the winner can claim more than 10,000 Euros in prize money.

If you happen to be in Finland when any of these races are taking place, then we recommend that you make the effort to go and check them out because the entertainment levels are always extremely high. As we said above, the people of Finland love to bet, and if you find yourself at any type of harness racing event, not just the ones that we spoke about above, we recommend that you join in the betting fun too. The odds on offer during a race are often quite high, so you do not even have to bet a lot of money to be in with a chance of making a nice profit.

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