V75® (Christmas Day): Ready for a Christmas hat trick

Winter Burst moves along to what has become the traditional Christmas Day at Umåker. 

The race day was initiated as a V75 day in 2016. 

For Sören Lennartsson, it has become the big goal of the winter season. 

And he has done well, even if it took him a few attempts. 

In 2018 he was second with Conrads Gregor, just beaten after a first over trip at 26-1. 

"I remember it very well. It was close and the horse who beat him squeezed out of a tight spot. The driver was fined, but the horse might as well have been disqualified. But my horse was good and we were happy to finish second" Lennartsson remembers, He also finished third with the same horse in 2019. 

In 2020, the big hope was Just Celebration, who closed fast after getting out late and had to settle for second place. 

After that, he has made it to the winner's circle. In 2021, Just Celebration won at 11-1 after a strong rally down the stretch for Ulf Ohlsson.

Last year, the horse raced in the open class and had to settle for fifth behind Selmer I.H. who got to control the pace to 1:17.6 the first kilometer and sprinted home at 1:10 speed. 

"He raced well, but the way the race developed, it was hopeless" says Lennartsson who still got to celebrate, as his other starter Twins Lily lead Vinterstoet from start to finish. 

"That was so much fun. We are a bunch of people who go out to eat at a dance place after the races every Christmas. When I grew up, the races at Umåker were always held on Boxing Day, but then they were moved to Christmas Day and it became a V75 day, so we moved our dinner to that night. It's a very nice tradition and even nicer if you have a victory to celebrate, of course". 

Whether they get to celebrate for the third consecutive year remains to be seen, but you can be sure that Lennartsson has done everything he can to have his horses in top form for this race day. 

"I definitely have. You can say that I have aimed for this day for six months".

The horse that seems to have the best chance to win on paper is Twins Lily, who will try to defend her win from last year in Vinterstoet (V75-6), but this time she has to start with a 20 meter handicap. 

"She was not good in the summer and in hindsight, we think she had some sort of allergies. I decided to take it easy and train her in the pressure cart to build up more muscles. The plan was to get her back in form for the Christmas Day races. Now we will see if I have succeeded or not". 

"She hasn't been. Last year it was easier to get her in top form, everything worked out so well, but this year it has been tougher and she has raced very inconsistently. I have changed her training schedule this last month and I think she has responded well to that. She raced well in her last start; the plan was to have her form at 80%. The goal is to be at 100% on Monday. After her last start, I trained her twice lightly at the ice track at Umåker to get her used to the surface and she will also train there again on Thursday. We will go between 1:22-1:25 with a fast finish, I hope to get her in top form like that".

The surface might be the strongest argument for Twins Lily winning the race. She is undefeated in four starts on an ice track. 

"She needs a lot of grip and she gets that with ice corks so that's a big plus. I hope we can keep her record intact. Even if most of her wins have come from the lead, she has raced well many times from behind when she has been in good form and I think she will be for this start".

Among the opponents is stable mate Love Bass who has won 1 out of her 30 starts and on paper she should have no chance winning on V75. But...

"I want to put out a little warning for her" says Lennartsson and adds:

"She's a mare who I have not succeeded with because she has always trained well, but she is very nervous and she has had a hard time getting it together on the race track. She has had trouble with her left hind and has been very rough gaited at times, but I hope I have figured her out now. I trained her on the straight track in the woods yesterday (Monday) and she felt perfect. She will also go to the track to train on Thursday to make sure we have the right shoes for the track and she raced well on the ice track last winter. It would be interesting if she could get to the lead".

"Absolutely. I think she would relax much better there. She has too much on her mind when she's in the middle of a field. I have tried her in the lead in schoolers and she has fought well to keep the others behind her at the end. Of course, it's a longshot for her to win on V75, but if she gets the lead, I'd like to see her there".