V86® (jackpot): "Alone is good now again"
Örjan Kihlström did not pressure the horse when he sat at the rear of the field in the gold division last time out.
Alone was not in the mood that day and he should be better for the Wednesday V86 start according to trainer Lisa Skogh.
"You can never say for sure since you never really know with this horse. But he is good now again and we have to be optimistic".
Not one single ticket survived all eight legs last week on V86 and therefore we have a jackpot this week.
That pot is added to this week's when Solvalla and Åby are co-hosting V86 and a sole winner could take home SEK 15 million.
The eight-year-old gelding Alone, who once finished third in the Swedish Trotting Derby, was one of the horses Lisa Skogh took care of when she worked for trainer Pasi Aikio. When Lisa got her own trainer's license at the beginning of the year at Solvalla, the chestnut came along and joined her stable.
After a year full of problems where the horse was winless in seven starts, Alone was back to his old self at Solvalla a few weeks ago.
Lisa Skogh believes her horse will have a good year on the racetracks.
"Last year was nothing but problems and he was castrated early in the year too. It sort of feels like it hasn't had any effect on him until now. When the horses are older it usually takes longer" she says.
In V86-4 at Solvalla, which is a handicap, Alone just squeezed into the class which is closed at SEK 2 million in lifetime earnings. He was assigned post position eight because of that, and that of course lowers the expectations a bit.
But Alone is known to leave fast and he took the lead after 400 meters and looked like he was just jogging when he won at Solvalla two starts ago. Örjan Kihlström didn't even ask the horse for speed from post seven that time.
Örjan let another horse go and Alone trotted the last 600 meters on the outside, but won easily.
"It was really nice that he got to show that he still is that good. In his first start of the year, he would have won had he not made that break down the stretch. Jorma Kontio had beaten the horse on the front and just tapped him with the whip when he responded by making a break. Jorma said he never thought a horse as old as he is would do that. He just jumped right up and came back trotting again after two strides" says the trainer.
Can leave fast - when he wants to
Lisa Skogh says that Alone is just like that. 'A bit special' and moody with his own mind. As a gelding, he can relax better when he is at the racetrack, though.
"Post position eight on Wednesday could be just as good as anything. If Alone is having a good day, he can leave very fast. But last time in the gold division, something was bothering him when he started from post three. He is very inconsistent behind the gate and Örjan never pressured him when they ended up at the back of the field and the horse was clearly not in the mood that day. He was not tired when he came off the track. So we’ll just forget about that start".
So the bettors can ignore his last performance?
"Exactly. When it comes to Alone, you can't give a single start too much attention".
What do you think of the horses he is facing in V86-4?
"There are some good horses in the field. 9 Maverick Dream is one, even though he starts from the second tier. But he races well every time. Conrad Lugauer is in the race with 3 Romero and he is also a good horse. It should be a good pace with Conrad in the race and Alone could get a pretty good trip" says the Solvalla trainer Lisa Skogh.