The horse who beat Goliath
by Lisa Harkema
In Sweden one horse is, above all, responsible for the growth of harness racing. According to famed trainer Stig-H Johansson, trotting in Sweden has Ego Boy to thank for its popularity. The horse was an unlikely superstar that came from nowhere to become one of the world’s top aged trotters before his unexplainable death while still at the top.
Ego Boy really grabbed the attention of the trotting world in the 1973 Elitlopp. The race was, for the first and last time, ran as a best-of-three-heats race. With Ego Boy winning the first heat two lengths ahead of Flower Child in 1.15,3 (2:01.1f), but the latter winning the second heat by a nose in 1.13,8 (1:58.4f), a final race off between the two was necessary. Flower Child’s trainer-driver Joe O’Brien paid tribute to Ego Boy before the final heat, saying that the Swedish-born trotter was one of the better he had seen and that he was more than capable of beating his own Flower Child.
The race-off is a classic, but not for it’s high speed. Olofsson used Ego Boy’s gate speed to take the lead and O’Brien let his star trail him as Olofsson killed the tempo altogether, realizing that his best bet was probably to gamble on Ego Boy’s short distance speed. The first quarter was concluded in a leisurely 35 seconds or so. When O’Brien and Flower Child finally attacked, Ego Boy still had a full tank of gas and easily held off the challenger, winning one of the most prestigious races in the world in 1.23,8 (2:14.4) (!)
To many it made no sense. Flower Child was one of the world’s top aged trotters. Ego Boy was just a small-time horse from the rural region Dalarna. The horse was a good old fashioned underdog with an, at best, average pedigree, likeable and down-to-earth breeder-owners and trained by the humble and unassuming small-track trainer Ingemar Olofsson. The trainer had also downplayed his chances before the race off, saying “The Americans are so used to heat races, so I doubt I can win.” It was a true David v Goliath setup in the eyes of most Swedes, and the win made Ego Boy even more of a cult hero in Sweden.