V75: Great Finnish chances at Romme
She has had succes on Swedish soil before.
This weekend she is back with piping hot trio on V75.
"Icecream In has done it so easily lately so maybe I have the highest hopes for her, but my other two can also win" says Nina Pettersson-Perklén.
Nina Pettersson-Perklén is not a new name for the Swedish trotting fans. She has had a stable in Sweden before and raced frequently on V75 with Religious, in the silver division.
"Yes, I had a stable in Sweden before and I'm thinking about sending some horses over this winter, too. I was stabled at Söderby Gård. It's like 'little Finland' there. Almost everyone there is from Finland and sometimes there are some Italian horses there too" says Nina Pettersson-Perklén in this week's episode of the podcast 'V75 - lördag hela veckan'.
The stable at home in Finland has grown significantly since she decided to leave her job in dental care and focus on training horses, five years ago. Today she trains 45 horses.
"I guess I've been lucky to get nice horses and good owners. I started with ten horses who quickly turned into 20 and here we are now. It feels great, in Finland 45 horses is a big stable. Now, I'm the biggest female trainer in the country and I'm pretty sure I'm one of the five biggest trainers overall in Finland".
"Toying with them"
This weekend Nina Pettersson-Perklén makes the trip to Borlänge with several good chances. Romme is the host of V75 this week and in Diamantstoet, 6 Icecream In (V75-4) is chasing her third straight victory for Nina Pettersson-Perklén.
"Before we bought her from Sweden she had been raced pretty tough and her biggest issue was between her ears. We have worked hard with getting her to calm down and it hasn't been easy, given her pedigree" says Pettersson-Perklén.
"When she first came she was pulling a lot at home too and it was hard to jog and train her. We had to work with her and she is a one-person horse. Her caretaker trains her and it works out great and she can even sit first when we are out with four, five horses and she still remains calm".
The five-year-old mare has won both starts easily for her new trainer and from a good post position, she will have a chance to win again on Saturday.
"She was definitely not tired last time out. She just trotted home easily without any urging at all and she was just toying with them. Her form is good and I think she should fit this class. I'm a bit worried about post position six in volt start, it's a bit different in Finland. But I will leave that up Örjan (Kihlström). If he can get her off trotting, she should race very well".
Wintry conditions a plus
Barefoot ban, corks in the shoes, and a long trip from Finland are no problems for Icecream In, according to her trainer.
"She has raced with shoes and she had corks in her last start. And she's a very good shipper".
The same things can be said about her stable mates who have also raced with shoes and corks in their last starts. Out of them, 6 Kratos di Quattro (V75-5) will get the most attention from the bettors. Not so strange, as he comes with four straight wins.
"His owner tried to sell him before his first win because he wanted to buy another horse. But nobody wanted to pay what he was asking so the horse stayed. Now he's not for sale anymore" says Nina Pettersson-Perklén with a laugh.
"These wins have not come easily for him. He had to go first up twice and had to work hard to take down the leader and still managed to keep the closers behind him".
"I think he will race well again, he is strong and he has been good. Working Class Hero is a very nice horse and there are other nice ones in the race as well. It looks like an even race actually".
2 Piccadilly (V75-7) is the only horse from the Nina Pettersson-Perklén stable who doesn't come off a win. But that doesn't mean that the expectations are lower for him.
"I have high expectations of him. He has raced with shoes in every start for us and with corks in his last three starts. When he trotted 1:13 with volt start, it was ice cold and wintry track conditions and he won for fun. He then had some bad luck in the final and had to go on the outside of Celsius Evo, who won the race. In his last start, the driver made a minor mistake. He should have won that race".
"He feels great now and if Jorma (Kontio) can get to the lead I don't think he will give it up".