The barefoot comeback king

When Åke Svanstedt recorded a fantastic win in the 2004 Elitlopp, he did it with a horse that two years earlier had been retired. But after 18 months away from the track, Gidde Palema returned in style and when the excellent trotter could race barefoot he was an almost impossible proposition for his competitors.

Born in the same crop as Victory Tilly, Gidde Palema was the better of the two at 3 and one of the best in his crop. Still, he failed to win any of the biggest races that year in Sweden, finishing second in the Breeders Crown (behind Igor Brick, himself a star with earnings over $1 mill ) and E3 Korta (behind Viking Kronos who despite being Italian-born was eligible), and third in the Kriterium (behind Lucky Po and Vikings Gustav). The next year Gidde Palema was still among the best in his crop, but continued his winless streak in the major races, finishing second in the Derby and Fyraåringseliten, the race for 4-year-olds at the Elitlopp day, both won by Victory Tilly.

At the end of that year, owner-breeder Karl-Erik Bender moved Gidde Palema to Björn and Olle Goop. At 5, the colt was already one of the better aged trotters, but a big win still eluded him. Two wins in smaller, relatively speaking, races were supplemented by a second place in Copenhagen Cup and third place finishes in Hugo Åberg and Jubileumspokalen. Still, with a personal best of 1.11 (1:54f) and well over 2 million SEK (around $250,000), in earnings he was obviously a class trotter. But just two starts into his 6-year-old season, in March 2001, Gidde Palema was injured. A joint injury caused him to struggle to stay on gait and an operation was deemed necessary. Also, according to Svanstedt, Gidde lost interest in competing. Even though the intention was to return to racing after the operation, nobody really seemed to believe in it and Gidde Palema became a full-time stallion.

A different horse

But after a year and a few months he was put back in training again, now at his old trainer Åke Svanstedt. Although they should probably have brought him back a few months earlier, the breeding season made it natural to wait a little bit longer, something Svanstedt with hindsight thought was a great idea. According to Bender, “when he returned, he was like a different horse. Gidde Palema loves to compete. When he was released in the paddock after the first training session, he was really proud and ran with his tail in the air. He really appreciated to be back in training. He also likes the way Svanstedt trains with heavy exercise without moving so fast.”

On Boxing Day 2002, more than 21 months after his previous race, Gidde Palema won his comeback, a smaller race at Mantorp in 1.14,4 (1:59.4f). The following April he won a qualifier to the prestigious Olympiatravet. Few still believed he would win the big final but that is exactly what he did. Gidde Palema proved the victory wasn’t a fluke when he followed it up with a win in the Oslo Grand Prix a month later. Even though he failed in the Elitlopp two weeks later, the colt who seemingly couldn’t win any big races had now turned into one that won most of those. In a stellar season where he earned almost $1 million, Gidde also won the Copenhagen Cup, Årjängs Stora Sprinterlopp, Jubileumspokalen, Sundsvall Open Trot and Åby Stora Pris.

A spectacular season

He started the 2004 season near perfectly with four wins in five starts, including Olympiatravet and Oslo Grand Prix. Going to Solvalla for another shot at the Elitlopp, Gidde Palema was naturally made the favorite in his elimination. He had to settle for second in his elimination, losing to Revenue S who won in 1:54.4f. Svanstedt was not downbeat ahead of the final, though.

“The most important thing was not winning the elimination, but to get to the final without using too many energy”, Åke Svanstedt pointed out. The master trainer had a plan for the final: he was going to make it a speed duel – not just the last quarter, but throughout the whole race. As Revenue S took the lead, Svanstedt parked his star outside the front runner and started applying pressure. “It was the first time I was on him a bit the whole way. It was also the first time I pulled the ear plugs, which I did with 600 meters (1 1/2 quarters) left, and soon after I knew we were going to beat Revenue”, Svanstedt stated.

A contributing factor was the track conditions with allowed Gidde Palema to run barefoot in both the elimination and final. The Swedish-born star was remarkably better when unshod and some of his losses came when the track conditions did not allow for him to race barefoot.

The victory, in a race record 1.10,0 (1:52.3f), was Svanstedt’s first Elitlopp win. He had previous finished second with Zoogin in both 1995, to Copiad, and 1996, to Coktail Jet. Winning the Elitlopp, something Svanstedt also did in 2009 with Torvald Palema, meant a lot to the trainer. “I am Swedish, so for me the Elitlopp is the biggest race you can win,” Svanstedt added.

Gidde Palema followed up with massive wins in the Hugo Åbergs Memorial and Jubileumspokalen, and he also the European Grand Circuit champion in 2003 and 2004. The brilliant trotter continued his winning ways until another injury forced him into permanent retirement at age 11 in 2006. He was then 44-21-8 in 93 starts with career earnings of more than 27 million SEK (roughly $3.5 mill).

A quality pedigree

That he colt with the beautiful blaze became a star was no surprise, though, as his pedigree is excellent. Gidde is sired by Hambletonian winner Alf Palema, one of the best stallions in Europe since the 90s. The latter is inbred, 3×3 on both Speedy Scot and Star’s Pride, and produced a lot better when used on outcross mares, especially those by a French sire. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Ideal du Gazeau was the damsire of Gidde Palema. The 2nd dam, Haha Arden, is a sister to 1973 Hambletonian winner Flirth and was also awarded Elite Broodmare status in Sweden while the 3rd dam, Mirthful, is a full sister to Speedy Rodney and Speedster. This classy pedigree, classy trainer and classy horse came together in 2003 and 2004 when Gidde Palema absolutely dominated in Scandinavia – highlighted by the 2004 Elitlopp.

Gidde Palema died in 2024, 29 years old.

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