Talent a little out of the ordinary
Year after year, new rising stars emerge among the young active people. I like to follow the development of the young up-and-coming athletes. This year I have followed Fredrik Plassen, and have been very impressed by the youngster.
Oslo boy Fredrik Plassen (born 2004) is coming off an exceptional year as a trotting jockey. By the end of 2025, he has solidified his position as one of the most promising apprentices in Sweden.
At the age of 18, he finished his final year at Wången High School in Sweden, a school that offers specialization in both trotting and Icelandic horse riding.
After this, he also spent a period in France, where he was on assignment with Ron Kuiper.
Rapid development
At 21, Plassen has already achieved more than most his age. Based in Gävle, he now races almost daily all over Sweden. His riding style is often described as cold and methodical, and he is known for having a unique ability to get his horses to give that little extra in the closing stages.
Plassen has stated that he wants to continue learning from the best. He envisions using 2026 to further refine his tactics, especially when it comes to the vault start, which is more common in Norway than in Sweden, and the ability to assess pace in races even more precisely.
2026 is about confirming that the success in 2025 was not a fluke, and positioning himself for a future as one of the Nordic countries' biggest driving stars.
Latest race results (December 2025)
The pitcher has been in terrific form over the Christmas period, and most recently on December 27th he delivered strong results at his home ground Gävle:
- Victory with Steady Countess: During the V85 round at Gävle, December 27, he won with the Sybille Tinter-trained Steady Countess . The horse earned over half a million kroner with this victory.
- 2nd place with Domenik Jet: In the race before, he came in second with Domenik Jet , only beaten by a head.
- The winning streak before Christmas: On December 21st and 22nd he took four wins in two days. He won two races at Bollnäs with Florenz G. and Hidalgo Simoni , and followed that up with two wins at Romme with Global Commission and Wellerman . The latter is now on a three-in-a-row winning streak.
Collaboration with Sybille Tinter
A large part of the success in 2025 can be attributed to the close collaboration with trainer Sybille Tinter at Gävletravet. Plassen serves as her regular driver on many of the stable's best horses. Tinter has stated that she has great confidence in Plassen's tactical abilities, and their "stable duo" has been one of the most successful in Swedish trotting this fall.
Highlights from 2025
- Statistics: As of December 28, he has now won 61 races in 2025 and earned over 4.5 million Swedish Riksdaler. In comparison, he earned around 700,000 in 2024.
- SM-Gold: In September 2025, he became the Swedish apprentice champion at the Åby track, which is considered his biggest single victory in his career so far.
- Travrondens Guldklocka: He led the points series superbly throughout the year. Although the final on December 17th at Solvalla was won by Henrik Kihle, also a young Norwegian with success in Sweden, Plassen was hailed as the year's dominant apprentice in the basic series.
More races on Norwegian soil
Although he is based in Gävle, the plan for 2026 is to ride more in Norway when the schedule allows. He has his sights set on the big weekends such as the Oslo Grand Prix at Bjerke and the Ulf Thoresen Grand International at Jarlsberg, where he hopes to ride good Norwegian or Swedish horses.
It will be very interesting to follow the Space in 2026, which will certainly contain new noticeable advances.
