V75®: Ready to upset in the Swedish Championship
V75® with the Swedish Championships at Åby racetrack.
This Saturday, the racetrack just south of Gothenburg offers a great card with several rich races and lots of prestige.
A German native wants to win her first Swedish Championship gold medal.
"This is the race we have aimed for all year. My mare is ready for the best race of her career" says Sybille Tinter.
The Swedish Championship day with V75® at Åby is one of the highlights of the fall season.
It also means a different V75 card, where five of the regular classes are being substituted for the Championship races.
For monté jockeys, youth drivers, apprentice drivers, plus the two main Championship classes, the open class as well as the mare class where the winner of each class gets SEK 500,000.
That means that many horses have been aimed for this particular race day.
But the question is if anyone has aimed for as long as Sybille Tinter with Filippa B.J. (V75-6)?
"Already early this spring we decided that the Swedish Championship would be her big goal of the year. After that, we trained and raced her with this race in mind, for her to be in top form on Saturday. I feel like we have succeeded. She is completely crazy at home" says the happy German native, who has been saying for a long time that her quick-footed 5-year-old will establish herself as one of the best mares in the country.
The first sign thereof came during the Elitlopp weekend when Filippa B.J. finished third in Stoeliten.
"That time she took the lead and let Imhatra Am go, but got stuck behind her when she faded. Jorma (Kontio) thought she would have had a chance to win, had she gotten loose at the top of the stretch, now she got loose way too late" says Tinter, whose mare showed that she can leave very fast from the inside post.
She showcased that same quality at the same track, a little more than a month later when she easily held out the big favorite Castor The Star and went wire to wire in the silver division in 1:10.8 over 1,640 meters.
First time barefoot
Two starts to keep in mind as the mare drew the inside post behind the gate again for this Saturday.
"We were ecstatic when we saw the draw, Dad (Klaus Kern) even celebrated with a beer. It's perfect for her and when you have aimed for a specific race for so long, it's important to have luck in the draw".
Even though Filippa B.J. has not won a race after that, the trainer is convinced that her mare will be in top form this Saturday.
"Of course I have sharpened up her training a bit. But she got that tougher training a few weeks ago, and after that, she has gotten two starts to get her ready for this race. We have raced her conservatively on purpose, to get her to close and finish at full speed, just to have her in top form at Åby" says Tinter, who also says that they have two extra gears saved for this race and now she is entered barefoot and in an American sulky – both for the very first time in her career.
"We might skip the American sulky, I will talk to Jorma before I decide. But unless the track is terrible, she will race barefoot. It will be exciting to see, she is usually the only one with shoes on in a race. Now she gets to to race on the same terms" says Sybille Tinter.
Why have you waited so long to take her shoes off?
"It's a combination of us wanting to wait for the right moment, and also her having had bad feet in the past. Now she is ready and I hope it will have a good effect".
What is your take on the race?
"She is in against very tough mares. as she should. I think she will hold up the lead, and then Jorma has to try to find the best possible cover after that. To race her in the lead over 2,140 meters is not the plan. The plan is for her to use the passing lane at Åby, then I think she can close really fast".
She probably needs to be 20 meters better than before to win this race, can she do that?
"Yes, I think so based on the way she feels in training, she's completely crazy at home. The more troublesome she is at home, the better her form is and she has never been as bad is she right now. She is ready for the best race of her career, then we have to see if that's good enough".
What do you think?
"Now that she drew a perfect post, I think she can upset. It will be incredibly exciting on Saturday".