After three months of the annual barefoot ban in Sweden, spring has come to all racetracks, starting March 1.
It is up to the trainers to race with or without shoes again.
Halmstad is hosting V75 this week and according to the weather forecasts, it will be around 11 degrees Celsius, and no precipitation in an already spring-like Halmstad.
Ulf Stenströmer has started the year very well and has won twice on V75. As recently as last Saturday, Stenströmer's new acquisition Great Time Trot won at Örebro in his first start since September.
1 Utah Southwind (V75-7) who came to the Stenströmer in November from Frode Hamre in Norway has already made two starts in class 1 on V75, which have resulted in a win and a third place.
Stenströmer did not know the horse's capacity when he, in the second start for his new trainer, won a race in Kalmar with SEK 100,000 to the winner in the middle of January. The 5-year-old has also won impressively on V75 at Axevalla, where Ulf Ohlsson let him go around the field from post eleven, and he also finished third at Åby from post position twelve, three weeks ago.
"He has shown that he is on his way up and he still fits the class after two great efforts from terrible post positions. This week he drew the best post. Of course, I am optimistic," says Ulf Stenströmer.
Would he be good enough here?
Utah Southwind started his racing career for Christoffer Eriksson and he came to the Axevalla trainer in November after a year of training and racing in Norway.
The owners live in Skövde and wanted to see more of their horse.
"It was an interesting horse, of course. At the same time, he hadn't made more than SEK 30,000 in a race before coming to us and I thought that Utah Southwind might have a hard time making a living in Sweden," says Stenströmer.
Quite the opposite, the horse seems to have improved for his new trainer and the Saturday start will be his third straight start in the same V75 meet.
The STL finals are at Solvalla on March 23, but the trainer will not wait that long.
Just like the saying 'strike while the iron is hot', Utah Southwind will race barefoot and in an American sulky this Saturday.
"I had planned on saving those changes to the STL final, but we might draw in the second tier again then. It's not like I think he's raced badly with shoes, haha, and I think we have a horse who is good enough to win either way on Saturday. But I'm guessing that many will use the extra gear this week and since he drew post one, then we will do so too. There's a good chance of him becoming a bit quicker without shoes" says Stenströmer.
Would post three, for instance, be better for him than post one behind the gate?
"I don't know, he is quick, but there could always be someone who can follow the car. Most likely, he has a good chance of holding up the lead, he feels like a quick horse. I will let Magnus (Djuse) take care of the tactical choices, but when you get post one with a good horse, it doesn't hurt holding up the lead. We hope for a good effect and he will also race with a blind bridle again, just like he has done in almost every start for us".
In V75-5 (class 2) on Saturday, you have 6 Kipketer Mearas racing. He won his seasonal debut, last time out, a race for 4-year-olds at Solvalla. after having gotten the lead early on.
"He was pretty pacey in the warm up at Solvalla and it would be a huge plus for him to race barefoot behind. I have entered him with shoes all around, but there is a small chance that we will take his shoes off behind. Either way, he will race with less weight behind, aluminum shoes, which will make him less pacey".
2 Luca Vialli Boko (V75-6, bronze division) has raced almost exclusively barefoot throughout his career. He now makes his first start since November. Was he just given a break over the winter?
"Yes, he won his last start barefoot in a very good way at Åby. After that, he got to take it easy for a while and we have also treated him a bit. He hasn't trained any faster heats, but he has been good when he's been off from racing. The post position, post two in volt start, is a bit worrying. He is not a quick starter, so it won't matter much, but in the first start back like this, with some extra adrenaline, it might not be perfect with post two. But we hope it will work out. 2,640 meters is the biggest reason that he races here, there was also a nice long-distance race at Axevalla this Friday, but I think he has trained very well. Great Time Trot won V75 last Saturday after not having raced since September and it feels like our training is enough. We hope it will work out for Luca".
Who is your best chance out of your three?
"Of course, I have to say Utah Southwind!"