Leangen Travbane

Historie

Leangen Travbane is a harness racing course located at Leangen in Trondheim, Norway. The race course is owned by the Norwegian Trotting Association and its parimutuel betting is handled by Norsk Rikstoto. Through this arrangement it is the only equine tote betting establishment in Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal.HistoryOrkdal Tråvklubb was established as the first horse racing club in Norway in 1873, and the first club in Trondheim, Selskabet for kapkjøring i det nordenfjeldske Norge, was established in 1879, with Johan Henrik Spørck as the most enthusiastic founder. He took initiative for the first organized race to be held on the ice of Jonsvatnet that winter, and paid 200 Norwegian krone (NOK) in prize money from his own pocket. Summer races were organized along the closed off section of the Trondhjem–Støren Line, which had been closed between Sluppen and Valset. The organization worked with the breeding of fast trotting horses, and based itself on the Dølahest.Interest declined from 1895, but rose again from 1904, when Trøndelag Trotting Association (TT) was established, as part of the Norwegian Trotting Association. Its initial race on Jonsvatnet gathered a crowd of 4,000 spectators. Later Vintervannet in Bymarka and Lodgårdsvannet in Melhus were used. However, dependency on cold weather for the execution of races and poor tracks on the ice caused interest in establishing a land track and the association started working with the issue in 1911.