Our Way 1
BY PIA ADOLFSSON JANSSON PHOTO CLAES KÄRRSTRAND M
AHARAJAH MAJOR VICTORIES 2008 – Swedish Trotting Criterium 2009 – European Trotting Derby (Grand Prix l’UET) 2009 – Swedish Trotting Derby 2011 – Prix de Paris, Prix de Belgique 2013 – Olympiatravet 2014 – Prix d’Amerique Crossing the finish line as winner of the 2009 Swedish Trotting Derby. Despite the fact that Maharajah’s competThe greatest victory was 2014 Prix d’Amerique 2014. He also boasts a notable pedigree. His sire is the now retired Menhammar legend and Elite Stallion Viking Kronos. His mother, Chili Kahn, won over a million SEK in prize money and is now a broodmare at Menhammar. IT WAS APPARENT at an early age that there was something special about Maharajah and expectations were high prior to his first competitive start in 2008; however, that race ended with disqualification for galloping. The racing year concluded more successfully, with a win in the race that had been the season’s main goal, the Swedish Trotting Criterium. This was not simply a victory; Maharajah also broke the Swedish record for 3-year-olds over 2,640 metres, with a time of 1.14.0, which was also a world record for a 3-year-olds on a 1,000-metre track. Maharajah’s racing career went from strength to strength until it was finally crowned by the Prix d’Amerique. In February 2015 Maharajah was retired, and he was thanked for his accomplishments with a tearful farewell in the winners’ circle at Solvalla during the Elitloppet weekend. After many years of training and competition at Yttersta, Maharajah now stands at stud full-time at Menhammar Stud Farm, in yet another successful career. As of April 2019, Maharajah had 573 registered offspring, 496 of which are in Sweden. Thus far, Maharajah’s foals have started 3,297 races, winning 531 and earning SEK 64,377,724 in prize money. BY APRIL 2019, Maharajah had already sired 10 millionaires, with Who’s Who (born 2014) the most successful, having earned SEK 5.6 million to date. Not far behind is Makethemark (born 2013), with SEK 4.9 million. itive career is over, the awards continue to roll in. After the successful start to his stud career, in December 2018 he was named Elite Stallion, despite his first crop not arriving until 2013. He is Menhammar’s first own bred, and together with Raja Mirchi the first-ever Swedish-born Elite Stallion. Both of these were sired by Viking Kronos, himself an Elite Stallion. The queue of those wanting a Maharajah foal is long and the 2016-2018 breeding books were full by May. For the 2019 season, he was fully booked by March. The future will reveal how many more winners Maharajah will sire. ELITE STALLIONS Maharajah and Raja Mirchi made history as the first Swedish-born stallions to be valued as Elite for their outstanding offspring. Since the evaluation of stallions began in 1985, 31 Elite Stallions have been named (as of 2018). OTHER FAMOUS ELITE STALLIONS ARE: • Credit Winner • Express Ride • Mack Lobell • Ready Cash • Varenne • Viking Kronos • Zoot Suit OUR WAY MENHAMMAR 11