The 5-year-old European Championship, also called European 5-year-old Championship, 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 is arranged by the European Trotting Union

European Trotting Union

The Union Europeenne du Trot, or in English, the European Trotting Union, also known by its acronym, UET, is the governing body of European trotting. The federations main purpose "is the promotion of trotting races and horse breeding in Europe as well as their integrity and prestige in the world"...

, UET. The race takes place on a racetrack in one of the member countries of UET. The contenders are chosen by the different national trotting federations that are members of UET. Only 5-year-old European-born stallions and mares can be selected. The 5-year-old European Championship was raced for the first time in 1967.

The 2009 championship will be raced at Treviso Racetrack, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, on July 26, and has a purse of approximately US$132,000, or €100,000.

Racing conditions

The distance has most years been between 2,000 and 2,300 meters. There are two exceptions. In 1982 and 1986, the distances were 1,600 and 1,660 meters respectively. The distance interval has decreased and since 1990, the race has been over 2,060-2,150 meters. The race has always been started by the use of auto start.

Drivers with most wins

• 2 - Eddy Freundt (1967, 1970)
• 2 - 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...
  
   (1973, 1988)
• 2 - Anders Lindqvist (1990, 1995)
• 2 - Joseph Verbeeck (1998, 2003)

Sires with at least two winning offsprings

• 3 - Pay Dirt (Tarok, Granit Bangsbo, Hairos)
• 2 - Cocktail Jet (Kiwi, Jetstile)
• 2 - Express Rodney (Express Gaxe, Ex Lee)

Countries, number of wins

• 15 -
• 8 -
• 6 -
• 3 -
• 3 -
• 3 -
• 2 -
• 1 -

All winners of the 5-year-old European Championship

Year	Horse	Driver	Winning horse's native country	Winning time (km rate)	Track
2008	Brioni	Joakim Lövgren		1:12.1	Åby Åby Racetrack Åby Racetrack is a horse racing track located in Mölndal, 10 km south of Gothenburg, Sweden.Åby was opened in 1936 as a track for harness racing as well as thoroughbred racing. Since October 1976, the track has been dedicated to harness racing solely.... , Sweden
2007	Offshore Dream	Henri Levesque		1:12.2	Vincennes, France
2006	Jetstile	Geir Vegard Gundersen		1:13.1	Halmstad, Sweden
2005	Mara Bourbon	Jean-Pierre Dubois		1:11.3	Vincennes, France
2004	Tsar d'Inverne	Dominiek Locqueneux		1:14.6	Treviso, Italy
2003	Kiwi	Joseph Verbeeck		1:13.1	Treviso, Italy
2002	Abano As	Pietro Gubellini		1:13.7	Treviso, Italy
2001	Zambesi Bi	Mario Biasuzzi		1:13.8	Treviso, Italy
2000	Varenne Varenne Varenne is a dark bay former racing trotter by Waikiki Beach out of Ialmaz by Zebu.The italian Varenne is considered the strongest trotter of all time, no other trotter before he got so many important victories and records.Before he started running, in the opinion of several vets, Varenne could...	Giampaolo Minnucci		1:14.5	Treviso, Italy
1999	General du Pommeau	Jules Lepennetier		1:16.2	Vincennes, France
1998	Remington Crown	Joseph Verbeeck		1:15.1	Vincennes, France
1997	Call Me	Veijo Heiskanen		1:14.6	Jägersro, Sweden
1996	Defi d'Aunou	Jean-Etienne Dubois		1:15.6	Enghien, France
1995	Camino	Anders Lindqvist		1:17.3	Bjerke, Norway
1994	Boss Is Back	Jorma Kontio		1:17.7	Dinslaken, Germany
1993	Iata Käll	Tommy Hanné		1:14.6	Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1992	Shan Rags	Noralf Braekken		1:15.1	Teivo, Finland
1991	Zico Star F.	Asbjörn Mehla		1:15.1	Daglfing, Germany
1990	Atas Fighter L.	Anders Lindqvist		1:16.0	Vincennes, France
1989	Race cancelled due to A2 virus
1988	Piper Cub	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...		1:16.3	Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1987	Krista Sidney	Olle Goop		1:15.9	Axevalla, Sweden
1986	Hairos	John Hansen		1:16.4	Cesena, Italy
1985	Granit Bangsbo	Steen Juul		1:16.8	Schaasberg, Netherlands
1984	Meadow Sonn	Josef Sparber		1:17.7	Kuurne, Belgium
1983	Mr Black	Olle Larsson		1:16.4	Bjerke, Norway
1982	Dimma	Björn Lindblom		1:16.1	Naples, Italy
1981	Dartster F.	Olle Hedin		1:17.2	Vincennes, France
1980	Rocky	Martti Ropponen		1:16.3	Vermo, Finland
1979	Ex Lee	Dan Wegebrand		1:19.4	Daglfing, Germany
1978	Express Gaxe	Gunnar Axelryd		1:16.6	Tor di Valle Tor di Valle Hippodrome of Tor di Valle is an important horse racing venue of the city of Rome. The hippodrome takes its name from the area in which is located and includes a racetrack, a training track and a right track. It is one of the biggest in Europe.... , Italy
1977	Tarok	Jörn Laursen		1:18.6	Åby, Sweden
1976	Faro	Paul Essartial		1:17.0	Duindigt, Netherlands
1975	Micko Tilly	Olle Lindqvist		1:18.7	Bjerke, Norway
1974	Dines P.	Michel Lecacheux		1:20.4	Vincennes, France
1973	Tim Cross	Stig H. Johansson		1:20.0	Sterrebeek, Belgium
1972	Cirro	Sören Nordin Sören Nordin Ernst Sören Nordin was a Swedish harness racing driver and trainer who later started a stable in America. Nordin won 3,221 races in 10 different countries as a driver, he won the Swedish Trotting Derby 11 times – still a record. In 1950, Nordin won the Prix d'Amérique, and in 1953 the Elitloppet...		1:19.1	Berlin, Germany
1971	Henri Buitenzorg	Jan Wagenaar		1:22.5	Århus, Denmark
1970	Claudia II	Eddy Freundt		1:19.4	Solvalla Solvalla Solvalla is a horse racing track located in Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened in 1927 and is the biggest harness racing venue in the Nordic countries. The last Sunday in May, Solvalla annually hosts Elitloppet, one of trotting's most prestigious international events.-Elitloppet:*... , Sweden
1969	Wallburg	W. Root		1:19.8	Duindigt, Netherlands
1968	Fairland	Bertil Rogell		1:21.4	Bjerke, Norway
1967	Sebald	Eddy Freundt		1:21.9	Gelsenkirchen, Germany