V75®: The legendary trainer's new star trotter
30 years ago, he was one of the most successful and praised trotting trainers.
Now, there are only two horses in his stable.
This Saturday, the plan is to win the first V75® race in many years.
"It feels like we owe a lot of bettors money after they have bet on him, so it would be nice to able to pay them back" says Per K Eriksson about Lozano di Quattro.
Two months ago, Per K Eriksson was at the Hall Of Fame dinner in Goshen, New York to receive a standing ovation when being inducted into the Hall Of Fame. A great honor only three Swedes have enjoyed before him; Berndt Lindstedt, Jimmy Takter, and Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg.
This happened three decades after his glory days when he won the Hambletonian three times between 1985-1992 and nine Breeders Crown finals.
"It was a fantastic time. Lots of love and a very pleasant evening. I brought my family, everyone except my youngest daughter, who is pregnant, and it's a memory I will keep with me for the rest of my life. There were 250 people there, a lot of old friends including some of my very first owners. It almost made me want to go back and try my luck over there again. But I really like my life right now" says Per K Eriksson, who has lived a pretty quiet life since he moved back home to Sweden in the early 2000s.
The exception was in 2015 when his trotter Royal Fighter as a 7-year-old took the step from being a solid Saturday horse in the silver division into the elite and won an elimination to Elitloppet and went on to finish fourth in the final.
An astounding improvement by a trotter that late in his career.
Four retired horses
Eriksson now has a new Saturday horse.
Lozano di Quattro has tried his luck in V75® six times previously, often heavily bet, but is still winless.
This Saturday, he gets a new chance at Bollnäs.
Judging by the 5-year-old's last two starts, he is coming into this start in top form.
Two starts ago, he challenged one of the best trotters in the country Francesco Zet down the stretch and in his most recent start he won easily after an impressive finish.
"I agree that he has looked even better in his last two starts. It feels like he has absorbed the training and our racing schedule well. He has raced against tough horses many times, but we have given him nice trips instead. He also races really well in the American sulky. Tobias (J Gustafsson) who drives him for us, says that the lift from the bike makes him travel straighter" says Per K Eriksson who runs a smaller stable with only two racehorses nowadays.
"We had a big farm with 50 stalls, but the plan was always to sell off the biggest part of it. That's done now and we have built a smaller barn with six stalls instead, but we still have the same training opportunities. But Lozano trains mostly at Mantorp racetrack. He has done so for the most part of his career".
If you have room for six horses, why do you only train two?
"We have four horses who have made their money on the racetracks. They are just riding horses for my mom and my daughter now, to have a nice life when they are retired. So the barn is full".
Now we put all our focus on Lozano on his best friend (Chumlee). But the other horse is a winter horse who is waiting for his season, he can't keep up in the summer. I'm away most weekends and I don't want to leave too much work behind for my wife, so it's enough with two horses now".
Travels around the country on the weekends
What takes up all of Eriksson's time is a project called 'Till Start', that the Swedish Trotting Association, ST, runs. Its purpose is to support the non professional trainers all over the country.
Together with his colleague, the teacher, blacksmith and former trainer Bo Milton, Per K Eriksson travels around the country's racetracks to lecture and to answer questions.
"It's a lot of fun and very inspiring, but it's also very time consuming. I'm usually not home until late at night on Sundays".
Can you give us an example of what a weekend looks like?
"We usually have two tracks booked, it could be for example, Östersund on Saturday and Umeå on Sunday. Me and Bo leave early Saturday morning. When we get there, there are usually 25-30 horses waiting for us. We get a list of them ahead of time and Bo usually looks at their race replays to get a good opinion about the horses, he is better than I am at that. Then, we go over the horses once we get there. It's not just us two, there are other specialists there too, plus veterinarians. We talk to the trainers and try to help them with the various problems that their horses have".
What are the most common problems?
"It could be anything, but the most common problem is shoeing, balancing them, and feeding them. Sometime you can see on a horse that gets tired at the end of the races that it has a muscular problem, then it usually helps changing the feed".
What does your typical clientele look like?
"Mostly women. It could be anywhere from a 12-year-old girl training and racing ponies, to a lady in her 70s, some who have had riding horses before and just got involved with trotters. Of course, there are men too, but the majority is women".
Do you feel that they appreciate it?
"Yes. Besides meeting all these people out at the tracks, we get quite a few phone calls during the week, too. Back in the day, the amateur trainers could go to a professional trainer's farm and train with them and ask questions and get help, but it doesn't seem to work like that anymore. That's where I hope we play an important part".
Can you give as an example of a horse that is known to the public, that you helped get better?
"There are lots of examples, but I don't want to throw any names out there because I don't want to take any credit from the people doing all the work. The purpose is not for us to bang our chests saying how good we are, it's to help the amateurs succeed themselves. But, of course we follow the horses to see how they are doing. One of them recently won on V75 and of course, that makes me feel really good inside".
Will pull the shoes in May
To win on V75 is something that Per K Eriksson has struggled with the last few years.
As a matter of fact. His most recent V75 win was when Royal Fighter and Jennifer Tillman won his Elitlopp elimination after a first over trip, in 2015.
Since that, he has hit the board nine times, but never won.
The last two times were with Lozano di Quattro. First, he unexpectedly, finished third after a lightning fast finish in the Breeders Crown final last fall and then he finished second behind the Derby finalist Greensboro Zet at Sundbyholm this past summer.
In between the horse has failed twice as the big favorite, once due to making a break, and once when he was locked in.
"It's always tough on V75 and we haven't had the right luck. It feels like we owe a lot of bettors money, when they have bet him earlier, so it would be nice to be able to pay them back on Saturday. My horse is in very good form and we have high hopes for him, going forward".
Is he comparable to Royal Fighter, who got his breakthrough as a 7-year-old?
"Yes, in many ways he is. He has been given the same, long term training schedule. Since he got sick as a 3-year-old, we have aimed at having him at his best next year, as a 6-year-old. We used one extra gear on him now, the American sulky, but there are many more to use on this horse".
Which gears are they?
"Well, he still races with set earplugs. We have also never pulled his shoes, which I think will benefit him. But we are waiting with that".
How long are you waiting?
"Well, there's some big race in May" says Eriksson and laughs.
"No, all jokes aside, I think he has a lot more within himself. If you look at his pedigree, he is royally bred, he also has a very good gait, very fluent. There's more to do in training, too".
Sharpens him up for the second time in his career
What more is there to do in training?
"I have just trained him to be strong, never any fast heats. He trains twice a week at the track, but never at any high speed. Other than that, he goes in the pressure cart too. It's just these last few months that I have started training him on the straight track. And I have only sharpened him up for one start so far. That was before he went out against Francesco Zet, two starts ago when I let him speed away the last 500 meters and he responded really well to that in that start".
Will you sharpen him up a bit for this week's start too?
"Yes, a little. He is going to the track to train on Wednesday and the plan is to let him speed home a bit again. Not as fast as he did before the Solvalla start, but a little bit. I have avoided doing that, because I don't want to have him too hot, but it feels like the horse has matured enough to handle it now".
So, this could be the second biggest form sharpening of his form in his career?
"Yes, I have to say so. But we are not doing anything else, no changes. He will race just as he did last time out, in the American sulky, with a blind bridle, and aluminum grip shoes behind".
What do you think of his chances?
"I don't know the opponents well enough to say, but Tobias has studied the race and he says that it's important to get away before Nurmos' horse (6 Mellby Imperial). It might be tough to get to the lead, but we are not afraid to park and just sit on the outside like Örjan Kihlström does".
You mean like Jennifer Tillman?
"Yes, sounds even better. The way my horse feels now, he should be at least as good as he was in his last start. My feeling is that he might have gotten better with that start, so I am really looking forward to the Saturday start" says Per K Eriksson.