V75® (Sunday): Lot of pressure going into Stochampionatet
The world class trotting mare Joviality is almost a scary big favorite in the Sunday final of Stochampionatet.
Pretty much everyone counts on her winning.
"We haven't had such a big favorite in this race since Ina Scot" says the Axevalla racing manager Lars Ågren.
Stall Courant's nineteen-time millionaire Joviality is one of the biggest favorites of all time in the big battle of the four-year-old mares, Stochampionatet.
As a two- and three-year-old, Joviality beat all the best colts in North America and she is the mega favorite in the Stochampionatet final this Sunday. Post time for the race is scheduled to be a few minutes before 17:00, and the race goes as the sixth leg on V75®.
In last week's elimination, Erik Adielsson moved her to the lead after one lap and the super mare stepped away from the competition easily to her 24th career victory.
Queen L., Lovely Godiva, and Tamla Celeber are examples of big favorites in Stochampionatet throughout the years who were already big stars before this race.
But, the brightest star of them all in the history of Stochampionatet, is the 1993 winner Ina Scot. She was a phenomenon who came into the final with 22 consecutive wins, and later the same year, she won the Swedish Trotting Derby against the boys.
Her trainer and driver Kjell P Dahlström was known for his blunt ways. Before the final, he stated that there was no horse as sure to win as Ina Scot.
"She can't lose. It's just a matter of how many lengths we will win by" said a cocky Dahlström that time.
Pressure going into the final
Lars Ågren is the Racing Manager at Axevalla Racetrack. Ågren points out that all horses can lose.
That also goes for Joviality on Sunday.
"There is a lot of pressure on these big favorites. Sabine Kagebrandt, who trains Joviality, and the driver Erik Adielsson have a lot to live up to. We haven't seen such a big favorite in this race since Ina Scot" says Lars.
Sabine Kagebrandt chose, a bit unexpectedly, post position one for the final. A bit of a risk. But most experts think that it will be a wire-to-wire victory for the favorite in V75-6.
Joviality is Swedish-born and was flown over to the U.S. where she developed into a world class trotter. Among her victories is the 2022 Yonkers Trot.
"She has all the qualities a world class trotter should have, and it will be very interesting to see if she can succeed on Sunday" says the Axevalla Racing Manager Lars Ågren.
"She is incredibly fast out of the gate"
Trainer Sabine Kagebrandt is being interviewed in the Axevalla race program.
"Everything was well with Joviality before, during, and after the elimination last Friday. We were very pleased. Today, Monday she trained a few slow intervals and will get some massage before the day ends. After that, she will just walk and jog for the rest of the week. There was no doubt when we picked our post position, she is incredibly fast out of the gate, and at a track like Axevalla the inside post is very good. We are looking forward to Sunday, but let's not forget that there are many very good mares in the race. The only possible change is that we might add pullout earplugs, she hasn't had that since she came to Sweden" says Sabine Kegebrandt in the track program interview.
Would she win on Sunday, Stall Courant can add another SEK 2.4 million to the SEK 19 million that Joviality has already made. The first prize in Stochampionatet is SEK 1.2 million, an amount that is doubled since Joviality is included in something called 'premiechansen'.
All Swedish-born warmbloods who do not participate in certain baby races called 'premielopp' and collect money there, are instead eligible to get their money doubled in most of the bigger stakes as three- and four-year-olds.