V75®: Rackham as good as he could be – post position is not
From the big scene in Paris back to the Swedish winter.
Rackham is a win candidate in Legolas Minne - even though the trainer is not happy with the inside post.
Christoffer Eriksson comes with a few interesting starters when V75 is being raced at Åby this Saturday.
With two weeks left to Christmas Eve, it's time to get that Christmas money.
A great opportunity to do so comes on Saturday when V75 is being raced at Åby. A track that with its double passing lane often offers action-filled races. The feature of the day is Legolas Minne which honors one of the biggest legends in Swedish racing history and that also offers a highly interesting field.
Christoffer Eriksson makes the trip from Jägersro with four horses. Back on Swedish soil is the poster boy of the stable, 1 Rackham (V75-3), who has been in France for some time, and last time out he tried his luck in Prix de Bretagne. Unfortunately, he made a break in the start.
"He feels as good as he possibly can. France might have changed him a bit, he raced very well down there. Isabella (girlfriend of Christoffer) sits behind him every time he trains and she said he felt great before his last start. But he was never even in the race and that is his biggest problem here at home too, the volt start. He is hopeless there" says Christoffer Eriksson in the podcast 'V75 - lördag hela veckan'.
Drew the inside post behind the gate – the trainer not happy
Rackham faces some qualified opponents in Legolas Minne.
The world-class trotter Aetos Kronos makes his third start back after his long hiatus due to facial paralysis and the third place finisher in this year's Elitlopp Mister F.Daag are two of the opponents this Saturday.
Starting from the inside post behind the gate is usually an advantage but the trainer is not happy with how the draw came out.
"We will probably get away third from there" says Eriksson and adds:
"He is not that quick out of the gate and post one is not good for him. He usually grabs the left line and therefore, leaving from the inside post might be the worst possible spot for him. There's a risk I can't let go of him enough to leave fast".
Throughout the month of February, all horses racing in Sweden must do so with shoes. That could be another problem for the chestnut horse. Rackham has raced barefoot in all of his last thirty starts in Sweden.
"Of course, there was a reason why we started racing him barefoot in the first place. But on the flip side, he has raced very well with shoes before that also, plus he is much stronger now. Of course, had I gotten the chance I would have raced him barefoot on Saturday, but it is what it is now. I don't think he will be any worse because he races with shoes".
Hurricane back in Sweden - feels awesome
Another horse coming from starts in France is 7 Hurricane River (V75-1) who starts in the silver division, which is the opening leg this Saturday. The seven-year-old gelding has made one start since returning to Sweden and that was when he finished fourth in Kalmar last week, after a tough trip.
"He was in France and he raced well when he stayed flat but he hasn't made enough money to get in continuously, now when the winter meet has started. That's why we chose to ship him back home, he has a good racing opportunities here when many of the V75 cards are being raced in the southern parts of Sweden during the winter".
"He hadn't gotten a full race in his legs for nine weeks before his last start so I wanted to get some speed into him and I chose to race him at Kalmar last Friday. He almost found a spot second over in the first turn but instead, he got hung out three-wide and it was a bit unfair, it feels like a horse shouldn't have to do so much hard work as he had to do".
The Jägersro licensed trainer sounds optimistic when talking about Hurricane River.
"The horse feels awesome. He has probably never felt as sound as he does right now. He is more relaxed, sounder, and stronger. He can trot in a much easier way now and he has gotten better gradually. I have a good feeling about him and I think he will race very well, even if the post position was a bit too far out for us to be completely satisfied".
Feels very good - tries despite having to race with shoes
The Eriksson stable has two starters in the Class 2 leg.
Christoffer's choice was 6 Nyras Lars R. (V75-2) who after several good efforts made a break in his last start. A break that will go on the learning account.
"He felt very good, but he is also really green, he didn't quite understand that he could relax when he got a bit into the first turn. He has raced very well barefoot behind, but he didn't have enough foot that day so we we built them up a bit, and just before he made that break he took a bad step, he wasn't in rhythm, I think he couldn't grab ahold of the track enough and that was the root of the problem" says Eriksson and adds the following about the current barefoot ban:
"Now they have to race with shoes, but he feels so good right now that I want to try him again. He has raced with shoes behind once and that day the track was really deep and muddy, it was like when the ground thaws out in the spring. So it wouldn't be fair to judge him off of that start. He is a good horse".
How do you assess his chances on Saturday?
"I'm a bit sceptical about racing him with shoes, that takes down my expectations a little".
You also have 8 Vincent Cheri (V75-2) in the same race, with Örjan Kihlström?
"For him, it's maybe not all that bad to start from post position 8. He can be pretty tricky behind the gate and he has never been able to leave fast due to that. For him, being on the outside where he has to trot faster behind the gate might be helpful and he has the right driver to overcome a tough post position..."
"If you have a bad post position at Åby, you usually get into the race anyway. Thanks to the passing lane the races are driven a bit differently there".