V75® (jackpot): Folk festival in Boden – Bodin hopes to celebrate
Midnight sun and folk festival at the Northernmost racetrack of the country.
Maria Bodin is ready for her home track's biggest race night of the year.
The trainer thinks Bollinger and Heineken Bishop are two dark horses worth watching when V75® comes to Boden.
We are going as far north as possible for this Saturday's V75®.
The Midnight Trot, with the rich Norrbottens Stora Pris as the feature, is the highlight of the year at Boden Racetrack.
V75 starts at 20:30 and is boosted by a jackpot, calculated to give a sole winner SEK 43 million with all seven winners picked.
Maria Bodin, an amateur trainer at the track, is ready for the weekend. She trains four horses and two of them are racing on V75 on Saturday.
A horse who has started the year impeccably is 7 Heineken Bishop (V75-3). The 4-year-old was winless in his first racing season, but this year, he has a perfect record.
Three wins in three starts.
"Yes, exactly, he has won all his starts this year and all from the lead. He has been good, but now that it's V75 he has to up his game, but he is developing nicely," says Maria.
It seems like the horse is blossoming this year?
"Yes, he has matured a lot mentally and also put on quite a bit of muscle during the winter training, the horse has gotten stronger. It was a good winter for him".
This is an acid test for the gelding. Heineken Bishop comes out in the lowest class of the Swedish Trotting League, class 2, and he faces tougher opponents than he has before.
"That's right, he's in against a good group of horses here, I think it's a bit hard to compare him against them and he hasn't had to go all out yet. I guess you can call him the dark horse of the field".
Your horse drew pretty far out behind the gate, but all his wins have come from the lead. How fast can he leave?
"I don't know how fast he is compared to the others, the tactics are up to Sandra Eriksson, but I don't think she has asked him to leave very hard when he has made the front, and he can leave even faster, but as I said, I don't what the others can do".
But he should have a chance to win, though?
"If the trip works out, it's not impossible. I don't see any clouds in the sky for him, at least, and we have been with happy with the horse".
Bad luck lately
The one year older stablemate 7 Bollinger Bishop (V75-5) is a bit more experienced.
The gelding already has a V75 on his record. He closed out last year by winning at Umåker on Christmas Day.
"Yes, that was maybe not the toughest V75 race of the year, but he was good and I think he was when he raced at Umåker again in May, from post twelve. Sure, he good a good trip, but he trotted 1:12 over the middle distance. He is better than the program says and his good form just hasn't paid off".
Last time out at Boden, Bollinger Bishop was bet down heavily but ended up locked in.
"Yes, he had the inside post, with the 20-meter handicap, and got stuck there along the pylons. He never saw the light of day and was completely unused, it happens sometimes and it could be good for him going into this start. He is in good form and I think he is better than you can tell from his past performances, because he has had some bad luck lately, making a break two starts ago and being locked in last time out".
Bad luck in the draw too as Bollinger Bishop also drew post seven behind the gate.
"Exactly. Post seven for both. There's obviously a risk of getting into traffic trouble from out there, but he can leave pretty well. I know that horses like Djang Limit and Last Dying Breath to his inside are faster than him out of the gate, so we hope he can find a spot behind them. It usually opens up a bit in these races".
In that case, the bettors should not write him off?
"Then he could do really well, with some racing luck. There are many Boden-trained horses in the race, horses we have raced against before, so we have some hopes. I think we can call him a dark horse too," says the trainer who also says that the horse will race barefoot upfront and in an American sulky on Saturday, which is the optimal way for him to race".
Maria is not just the trainer; she is also the owner and breeder of both horses.
If I may ask, what is the story behind the names of these two horses?
"Well, all horses we breed are named Bishop. We once had a horse called Xante Bishop many years and it just made us start naming our horses after alcoholic drinks. Heineken Bishop is by Beer Summit, so we had to name him after a beer. Bollinger Bishop has a fancier pedigree, so we thought Bollinger, which is a pretty expensive champagne, would be a nice fit".
So, if you win on Saturday, are you celebrating with Heineken or Bollinger?
"Well, I guess it will be both," says Maria Bodin with a laugh.