V86®/jackpot: Antonio Tabac back in Boden after his grand victory
He won Norrbottens Stora Pris for his new trainer Jörgen Westholm in impressive fashion.
When Antonio Tabac now returns to Boden he does it as the favorite on this V86® jackpot card.
"My horse feels good. Of course I think he can win when he drew a perfect post position" says Jörgen Westholm who also puts out a warning for his other V86 starter.
V86® is wrapping up its summer tour at Boden racetrack this Wednesday.
This week V86 comes with a jackpot that guarantees a sole winner with all eight winners picked SEK 14 million.
One of the features of this V86 card comes in the fifth leg. That's where the horse with 'nine lives' once again is back in the program. Antonio Tabac had great success with his former trainer Oskar Kylin Blom a couple of years ago. After injuries and other issues he was moved to Jörgen Westholm where he now as an eight year old has found yet another gear. Antonio Tabac looked fantastic this summer when he won two in a row. One of those wins came in Norrbotten Stora Pris with SEK 500,000 to the winner where he beat some of the best horses in Sweden on the front end.
"He was fantastic when he won in Boden and he was very good in the start before that too, when he won at Hagmyren. He's a nice horse who loves to race, it seems. He likes to train by himself so he can be out on long jogs in the forest. He's getting older so he doesn't need that much training anymore" says Jörgen Westholm.
"Choked - forget that start"
After winning in Boden Antonio Tabac tried his luck in two big Finnish races. First start was in Kymi Grand Prix in Kouvola and the following start was in Mikkeli. But he had no luck in Finland where he started from bad post positions and got tough trips.
"He had terrible post positions both times and in his last start he got very hot when he ended up parked. He raced with a blind bridle outside the leader at a fast pace and it felt like he just choked. So we can forget that start" Westholm says.
"He feels good here at home and I think he's in similar condition as he was when he won two in a row earlier this summer".
"Changing the bridle - I think he can win"
On Wednesday night the grey horse returns to Boden after his last, very successful visit. Antonio Tabac is the given favorite in V86-5 from a perfect post position two behind the gate. Mika Forss does the driving once again and it looks good on paper.
"Antonio Tabac (V86-5) like the Boden surface which is nice and firm. He has a good post and of course I think he can win since he's a very good horse. We will change the bridle and he will race with either an open bridle or a pull down bridle. He will race barefoot and in an American sulky as usual".
"Barefoot all around now and first time in an American sulky"
Westholms sends one more horse up to Boden and that is Silver Bullit racing in the third leg of V86 and he didn't lose by much in his last when he finished second.
"Silver Bullit (V86-3) was improved in his last start and I have a feeling he's going to win soon. He has raced on the long distance before and handled it well and he's got a perfect post position here. We're also going to try him barefoot all around and in an American sulky for the first time. It feels exciting" says Westholm
"When you travel this far you want the horses to be real good and in fitting classes. My thought when I entered was that they should have a good chnace to win and I can't change that when they both drew post postion two. Boden is a 900 kilometer trip one way so the horses will go to Umeå on Tuesday and spend the night there and then travel to Boden on Wednesday".