V75® (dream jackpot): Elfving on his Kriterium hope — "He is a super pro"

Solvalla arranges a magnificent race day on Saturday, with the Swedish Trotting Kriterium and the Swedish Trotting Oaks as the features. There are also STL finals and the high-class V75 card is boosted by a dream jackpot. According to ATG's calculations, there is SEK 75 million in the pool for all seven winners picked. One of the hottest horses in the Kriterium is Phantom Express, trained by Joakim Elfving. The horse has never missed the board in ten starts, which have resulted in seven wins, two second places, and one third place. This past summer, Phantom Express finished second in the E3 final, and after that, he won three starts in a row. So far, he has made SEK 2.1 million.

"4 Phantom Express (V75-6) is a super pro in everything he does. He has all the ingredients a top horse should have and I think he has taken another step forward since the E3 final back in the summer. He has gotten even better and has never felt as good as he does right now," says Joakim Elfving. 

In the elimination, Ulf Ohlsson left aggressively from post eleven in the second tier, when he followed a fast leaving horse and continued to go three wide around the first turn. He got away ahead of his toughest opponent FaceTime Dream and could take over the lead after 500 meters. After that, nobody could threaten Joakim Elfving's colt and Phantom Express held off FaceTime Dream easily in the stretch drive to win.

"We had a plan to be aggressive in the elimination and try to get away ahead of FaceTime Dream. We were lucky it worked out and he got a good start in between horses. The horse was fantastic and won without having to go all out. The only time he has been tired was when he finished second in the E3 final and he had to race on the outside and got really tired. But, as I said, a lot has happened with this horse after E3," says Elfving. 

"He came out of the elimination well, just as he has done after every start this year. He has felt great in training after that and it will be exciting on Saturday". 

Phantom Express starts from post four behind the gate in the Kriterium and will be driven again by Ulf Ohlsson. The winner receives SEK 2 million, which doubles if the horse was enrolled in the "premiechansen". This time, the horse will race barefoot all around for the first time in his career. 

"That has been the plan the entire year; that if he qualifies for the Kriterium, the shoes will come off. Hopefully, it will make him a few meters better. He can leave fast, but how fast is something you have to ask Ulf. So far he hasn't chased him out of the gate but I believe he is very fast". 

"It will be an exciting final and I believe I have a horse that can win. It's a tough race and it will come down to the little things. But it will be fun to be a part of it," says Joakim. 

The Romme licensed trainer, who has 42 horses in training, found Phantom Express as a foal in a field on Gotland. He recommended owner Patric Skoglund to purchase the colt, and he has trained him since day one as a yearling. 

"I found him as a foal when I visited the breeder on my vacation on Gotland. I was just there to visit but I took the opportunity to look at some horses. That's when I saw Phantom Express and two other foals that I liked".

"When Patric told me he wanted to find a good horse, I mentioned this colt I saw on Gotland. It came up again later and Patric said that he and his partners wanted to buy the horse”.

"I think he showed good qualities already as a yearling and when training down as a 2-year-old, but when we started training faster when he was about to qualify, he showed that he could be an extraordinary horse. At home, he is a playful and happy horse but overall, he is a super pro in everything he does," says Joakim Elfving. 

"It would be the biggest moment of my life".