V75® (dream jackpot): Westholm hopeful going into the Swedish Oaks
14 years ago he won the Swedish Oaks with Annicka.
On Saturday he can do it again - with the up and coming Queen Bellina.
"It will be incredibly exciting" says the Solvalla licensed trainer going into Solvalla's super Saturday, where a dream jackpot on V75 can make a sole winner SEK 100 million richer.
After having made a sweeping move to the lead from third over down the backstretch, trotting the last 800 meters at 1:09.4 speed, Queen Bellina (V75-4) won her Oaks elimination in a brilliant way.
"She came out of her elimination race very well. She was really awesome in the elimination and in the starts prior, so it will be a very cool race to drive" says Jörgen Westholm as he is being interviewed in the podcast ‘V75 - lördag hela veckan’.
The former Romme trainer, who recently moved his license to Solvalla, won the Swedish Oaks in 2008 with Annicka. That time he was the favorite. He won't be this time, though. But he has a dangerous challenger.
"I don't know who will be the favorite, whoever it is, might be 3-1, but I will be in the talks and I have a filly who can win the race".
Queen Bellina starts from post position four behind the gate, the distance is 2,140 meters and the winner gets SEK 1.4 million. That doubles if the horse is entered in 'Premiechansen', which Westholm's talented filly is.
"It will be incredibly exciting considering how nice she has been since we started racing her. We have taken care of her in the races and haven't pushed her too hard. She has been challenged hard a couple of times and she has then proven to be very, very good. And we drew post four, normally I start from post twelve in all these stake finals, so post four is a nice upgrade. It's like moving from the trunk to business class and that feels great" says Westholm with a laugh.
Dream post in the bronze final
The entire race card at Solvalla is mouth-watering for every fan of trot races. Besides the Oaks, the Swedish Kriterium, STL Open for the older elite and the three kilometer race Walter Lundbergs Memorial are all to be raced on Saturday. Also on the Saturday card are the STL finals and Jörgen Westholm has a few very interesting starters. 1 Santos de Castella (V75-1) drew post one behind the gate in the final of the bronze division. The horse is not to be trusted completely, though. Two starts ago, he raced in the last bronze final and made several breaks.
"He is very pacey and easily rolls over into a pace. And if he makes a break, he gets very nervous and easily breaks again. If he has a ‘trot’ day, he is rock solid, but one break and his entire day is ruined. He wears a lot of weight since he is so pacey. But he is very, very effective and had I gotten the chance to pick a post, I would have picked post one. If I’m going to have a chance of getting the lead, that is the post position and if he gets there, he is very effective".
Jörgen Westholm is also optimistic regarding 4 Roll Control (V75-2). He finished fourth in a Derby elimination last time out and he now comes out in the Class II final.
"He was very good in Visby two starts ago and he was good in his last start too. He raced from behind and had to go three wide, which he isn't used to. He is usually in pool position. After that start we set aim at having him as good as possible for this final. We were lucky in the draw here too and it looks good on paper. The plan is for him to come up with the best effort of his caeer so far, considering that he comes from a very tough race and has felt very good in training after that".
"A small, small chance to upset"
V75 is not the only betting form handing out millions on Saturday. Before V75 starts, there is a jackpot on V65. According to the calculations there are SEK 2 million in the pool for all six winners picked. ATG steps in and guarantees SEK 3 million to a sole winner according to the podcast V75 - lördag hela veckan. If you want to take home that money, Jörgen Westholm's 10 Digital Dominance (V65-3) could be worth paying for.
"He is better than his last result, which was due to a too aggressive drive in combination with the blind bridle, which didnt work out for him, so he might have a small, small chance to upset. But the way Gooner looked in his last start, it's not realistic to believe we can beat him".