B class gæðingar - Who are likely to win?

Kristall frá Kolkuósi, owned and ridden by Gylfi Gunnarsson, was the winner of B class gæðingar on the tenth Landsmót hestamanna held at Rangárbakkar, Hella in 1986. Photo: Hesturinn okkar.

Kristall frá Kolkuósi, owned and ridden by Gylfi Gunnarsson, was the winner of B class gæðingar on the tenth Landsmót hestamanna held at Rangárbakkar, Hella in 1986. Beforehand most people assumed that Kristall and Snjall frá Gerðum, ridden by Olil Amble, would be the fighting over the win. That proved to be the case, Kristall and Snjall were by far the best two horses in the class and everyone had their eyes set on those two in the finals. The fast tempo tölt was performed on a straight track, one at a time like the pace is performed in A class gæðingar. That was Kristall's best gait as he was a strong and very well trained competition horse with years of experience. His victory was very convincing, great horse and the form and radiance was magnificent. 

Five times Landsmót hestamanna has been held in Rangárbakkar: 1986, 1994, 2004, 2008 and 2014. Two sons of Otur frá Sauðárkróki have won the B class there, Orri frá Þúfu in 1994 and Rökkvi frá Hárlaugsstöðum in 2004. At the 2008 Landsmót Röðull frá Kálfholti was the winner of B class, owned and ridden by Ísleifur Jónasson, and in 2014 it was the stallion Loki frá Selfossi who won the class, ridden by Sigurður Sigurðarson. 

Who will it be this time?

Like always, people have started to wonder which horses and riders are the most likely to reach such achievements as winning their class at LM2020 at Rangárbakkar, Hella. In B class the finalists from LM2018 in Reykjavík, have to be considered likely to return, maybe even stronger than last time. The finalists at LM2018 were: 

1 Frami frá Ketilsstöðum / Elin Holst 9,14
2 Nökkvi frá Syðra-Skörðugili / Jakob Svavar Sigurðsson 9,09
3 Hátíð frá Forsæti II / Jón Páll Sveinsson 8,96
4 Ljósvaki frá Valstrýtu / Árni Björn Pálsson 8,92
5 Þrumufleygur frá Álfhólum / Viðar Ingólfsson 8,79
6 Herkúles frá Ragnheiðarstöðum / Guðmundur Björgvinsson 8,67
7 Andi frá Kálfhóli 2 / Daníel Jónsson 8,59
8 Sæþór frá Stafholti / Snorri Dal 8,11 

Frami frá Ketilsstöðum is still going strong and very experienced and fit with his rider Elin Holst. Þrumufleygur, Andi and Herkúles have been exported and Sæþór is no longer with us, so they will not be in the way of new stars in B class this summer. Hátíð is pregnant according to WorldFengur, but the other horses on the list are ready as far as we know. 

If we look at our Icelandic ranking list in B class for the year 2019, we can see that on top is List frá Þúfum, ridden by Mette Mannseth with a total score of 8.96, received at the Fákaflug tournament in Skagafjörður. Oddi frá Hafsteinsstöðum is in 2nd place with 8.70 from that same tournament. This tournament is ridden like Landsmót, with the special preliminaries where 2-3 pairs are in the track, showing slow tölt, trot and fast tölt, leaving gallop and walk out. 

In the third place is Álfgrímur frá Syðri-Gegnishólum, rider Bergur Jónsson, with 8.63 in preliminaries and 8.69 in the finals from Gæðingamót Sleipnis in Selfoss

Tromma frá Höfn, winner of B class at FM2019 in East Iceland, could be a strong candidate if she makes it to the finals. She is very fast and smooth on her feet. Many horses on the list are strong and won a gæðingakeppni last year. 

If we take a look at Meistaradeild, the Champions League, Hátíð frá Hemlu II and Árni Björn Pálsson are a likely pair to compete for the victory. Ljósvaki is also in training at Oddhóll with Árni Björn and Sylvía. Other horses from the Champions League are Ársæll frá Hemlu II, Steggur frá Hrísdal and Taktur frá Vakurstöðum to name a few strong ones who could and have performed great gæðingakeppni programs. 

Finally, the most famous four gaited stallion in Iceland right now, Kveikur frá Stangarlæk, who is likely (and hopefully) to take part in a qualifying tournament for LM2020. He has already proven himself in tölt T1 and his trot has certainly never been an issue. So, we are looking forward to seeing those brilliant horses this summer at Rangárbakkar, Hella. 

The Icelandic ranking list in B class 2019:

Mette Mannseth IS2011258160 List frá Þúfum 8,96
Skapti Steinbjörnsson IS2009157352 Oddi frá Hafsteinsstöðum 8,70
Árni Björn Pálsson IS2010180716 Ljósvaki frá Valstrýtu 8,69
Hanne Oustad Smidesang IS2009186404 Roði frá Hala 8,64
Bergur Jónsson IS2011187660 Álfgrímur frá Syðri-Gegnishólum 8,63
Sigurður Sigurðarson IS2012188068 Gaukur frá Steinsholti II 8,60
Þórarinn Ragnarsson IS2011187118 Leikur frá Vesturkoti 8,59
Páll Bragi Hólmarsson IS2012282652 Sigurdís frá Austurkoti 8,59
Bergur Jónsson IS2011176178 Glampi frá Ketilsstöðum 8,58
Ólafur Ásgeirsson IS2008182454 Glóinn frá Halakoti 8,58
Brynja Amble Gísladóttir IS2010176186 Goði frá Ketilsstöðum 8,57
Sonja Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir IS2005165101 Jónas frá Litla-Dal 8,56
Hlynur Guðmundsson IS2011277012 Tromma frá Höfn 8,56
Finnbogi Bjarnason IS2010276015 Úlfhildur frá Strönd 8,56
Jón Óskar Jóhannesson IS2011167169 Hljómur frá Gunnarsstöðum I 8,55
Ragnhildur Haraldsdóttir IS2010125234 Bragur frá Laugabakka 8,55
Helgi Þór Guðjónsson IS2009287695 Hnoss frá Kolsholti 2 8,53
Sólon Morthens IS2010188691 Fjalar frá Efri-Brú 8,53
Magnús Bragi Magnússon IS2011257618 Drottning frá Íbishóli 8,52
Hlynur Pálsson IS2004187027 Dökkvi frá Ingólfshvoli 8,52