V75® (Sunday): Hustle Rain from a perfect post in Copenhagen Cup
A nice seasonal debut, finishing second behind Francesco Zet.
The Sprint Champion Hustle Rain revs up his season in the Copenhagen Cup this Sunday.
Danish trotting's biggest race day is this Sunday.
All eyes in the Nordic countries are on the traditional racetrack Charlottenlund when this year's edition of the Copenhagen Cup is being raced - the most noble race in Denmark for the older elite.
It is also the second start of the season for the quick-footed 5-year-old 2 Hustle Rain (V75-6).
The seasonal debut took place in Rättvik, on Friday of last week and, after almost six months away from racing, Hustle Rain finished second behind the phenomenon Francesco Zet, who in two weeks is one of the favorites to win the Elitlopp.
Hardly a second place to be ashamed of.
"Everything seems well after that start. He finished the race strongly, with full speed across the finish line, so it was a good seasonal debut," says trainer Mattias Djuse.
Do you feel that he will be improved off of that start?
"He should be. Especially considering that he didn't have any fast heats in his legs before that start, he trained well all winter and everything has gone according to plan".
Flexible 5-year-old
Hustle Rain showed that he is a very talented trotter last year.
The son of Raja Mirchi won his biggest race, so far, when he took home both the elimination and the final of the Sprint Championship, a one mile race. After a miscue in his Derby elimination, he returned later in the fall and won the S:t Leger over the hefty 3,140 meters – twice the distance of the Sprint Championship.
With the seasonal debut taken care of, the 5-year-old now revs up his season in the Copenhagen Cup. Hustle Rain drew a perfect post two behind the gate.
"It looks interesting. The horse is quick out of the gate and drew a good post, so it looks good on paper, then we will see about the tactics, but he should get a good trip. It feels like we could hope for a win".
What does the rest of his season look like, have you staked it all out?
"No, we haven't decided anything, we just had these two starts planned, and then we will see how he feels and go from there. But it feels like an interesting season, especially after such a good seasonal debut, it will be fun to follow him this year," says Mattias Djuse.