V86®: "A very nice horse – my best chance"
Last time out, she jogged to a convincing victory and was pretty much unused as she crossed the finish line.
Selective Calling is now chasing her second consecutive win, and the younger sister to the super mare Decision Maker is praised by her trainer, Stefan Melander.
"She's a very nice horse and my best chance in V86," says "Tarzan."
Bergsåker and Solvalla co-host the Wednesday V86 Xpress card. Racing at the capital track is the up-and-coming Selective Calling, who comes off an easy V86 win.
She is a younger sister to no one less than Decision Maker, who has been piling up wins this past winter after racing in the Elitlopp last year. She was scratched after the warm up from a race at Bergsåker two Saturdays ago.
"She had a swollen ankle, and we don't know what caused it. She must have hit herself or rolled in the stall. She had a quiet week, and the ankle looks good. We will let her take it easy for a while longer, and then she will train for a bit, and we will see when she is ready to race again," says Stefan Melander.
"I like her a lot"
The Solvalla trainer now puts his hopes in Decision Maker's little sister, Selective Calling. The 5-year-old mare has won five times in 19 career starts, with earnings of SEK 500,000. Last time out, she jogged to victory in a V86 race after Örjan Kihlström gave her a perfect second over trip. Selective Calling thanked him by jogging away from her opponents, completely unused.
"9 Selective Calling (V86-2) is a very nice mare that I like a lot. She won easily without being tired last time out, and Örjan was pleased with her. She has a great pedigree and has just gotten better and better. I have to say that she feels incredible in training after her last start, and we will see what happens here from post nine. It's not the post you dream about, but on the other hand, it could work out well. She has moved up in class a bit now but should do well here, too. We will race her in an American sulky this time, and she has raced with it before. Shoes all around again, we will wait to race her barefoot. She is my best chance in V86," says Melander.
What are your thoughts on her stablemate, Cloud Busting, in the same race?
"8 Cloud Busting (V86-2) raced well when she finished second behind Selective Calling two starts ago, but she was not as good in her most recent start. She is up and down, and from post eight, I have no big hopes for her. She will race barefoot upfront this time, but it will be tough for her from that post."
"Barefoot this time - he is the dark horse"
In the sixth leg, "Tarzan" sends out the fast Oracle Vixi, in this sprint race. On January 15, he won easily in a sprint race and he gets Per Lennartsson in the sulky this time. He drew well and starts from post four behind the gate and he has shown earlier that he can leave fast.
"4 Oracle Vixi (V86-6) can leave fast if he gets away on the right foot. He's not super fast. It looked like he was when he raced in lower classes, but now that he's up in class, they can all leave faster. In his last start, he got a good trip but got out too late and wasn't able to accelerate before the race was over. His form is good, and he races best when he's in or near the front. He will race barefoot upfront this time, and he's the dark horse of the field."
"10 Letsdoit (V86-8) is on his way up in form, but he won't win from this post. There are not that many races for him to race in, so he has to go out here. I hope he can get some starting points and money. Barfoot upfront this time," says Stefan Melander.