Austrian in the final again of V75® World Cup
Three years ago he finished second.
This might be the year when he takes home the gold.
Andreas Steiner from Austria has done it again, for the second time he has made it to the final of V75® World Cup.
"I have more experience now but I'm also three years older, I need reading glasses and I've started to forget things" he says jokingly about this Saturday's knowledge-based final.
Austrians seem to be particularly skilled at V75®. In 2014 Johann Leidenfrost won the V75 World Cup and the year after Andreas Steiner finished second to Swedish trotting journalist Magnus Strömsten.
"There's a huge interest for Swedish trotting in Austria. Thanks to internet it's become easier, not just to watch the races but also to read about it and get access to it all. There are many of us here who bet on V75 and other betting forms too" says Andreas Steiner who works as a race secretary at the racetrack Magna Racing in Ebreichsdorf just south of Vienna.
Controlled tickets the key to success
The Austrian trotting fanatic picked all seven winners twice during the elimination round of the V75 World Cup and with a total of 31 winners picked he ended up the winner of the international contest.
"I don't know how I managed to win again, but of course I was lucky" says Andreas Steiner laughing and continues:
"It was surprising when I won three years ago and in 2016 and 2017 I don't even think I finished top 100. So I wanted to be less aggressive and compose more controlled tickets this year".
A strategy that proved successful and going in to the last week Andreas was first in the standings.
'It was very exciting going in to the last week. All I had to do was to defend my lead and it was good that Propulsion was racing and that there were no big surprises".
Won the semi final last time
Besides Andreas Steiner the top nine in the standings plus the six weekly winners are going to battle on Saturday for the sought after title and the SEK 250,000 first prize. The final is not about picking winners. It's a Swedish trotting quiz where the top three will advance to the final quiz which will be broadcasted live on V75 Direkt on TV12.
"Last time I was a little bit nervous and didn't know what to expect. A quiz about Swedish trotting is completely different than picking winners on V75. But I got lucky on some of the questions and won the semi final, which gave me the advantage of answering first in the final. There was one contestant who was better then me but to finish second was a big surprise. I had a very nice weekend in Stockholm with the other finalists and the team from ATG® who took care of us".
How do you prepare for this year's final?
"It's hard to prepare but I hope I remember a lot from all the races I've watched. Every year I go to Sweden with some friends to watch a big race, this year we went to Åby Stora Pris and to Jubileumspokalen and I hope I remember the results correctly. There are a lot of races to keep track of. However, it will be a lot of fun coming to Stockholm again. I had a fantastic experience last time".