V86® (jackpot): Djuse is off to a great start – and has a hot chance to win
The success goes on for Mattias Djuse after the last couple of great years and new owners are joining his stable constantly.
The success continued this past weekend with SEK 500,000 in earnings to the stable.
Djuse is off to a great start of the new year and he has a hot chance to win on the V86 jackpot card this Wednesday.
"Beenthereseenthat will definitely be better with a race in his legs. The shorter distance this time is also an advantage," says Mattias Djuse, who hopes his horse can go wire-to-wire for his brother Magnus who also is off to a great start after his vacation in Thailand.
Two years ago, the Solvalla licensed trainer crushed his previous records when the stable had earnings of SEK 15.1 million. He surpassed that last year, with earnings of SEK 21.2 million, and just a great year overall with several big stake wins. Mattias Djuse keeps delivering and has kick started the year. The stable already has 13 wins and earnings of SEK 1.7 million which places him third in the country's trainer standings. As recently as this past weekend at Solvalla he had a V75 winner in Global Classified and several other good results in the rich races which all together meant SEK 500,000 in earnings.
"The horses raced well last Saturday and we're off to a good start of the new year, so we are pleased. We try to race all year around and there's good money to race for at Solvalla and in V75," says Mattias Djuse.
"Last year we had a few very good horses who won some bigger races which helped our total earnings. We also had good depth in the stable just the like year before. I think our concept with different training for the horses works well. I have also had many new owners reach out and since last summer we have had several new owners join us. That's great, obviously," says Mattias.
111 horses in training – but the total amount is larger than that
On his training list right now are 111 horses. The stable is pretty much full, even if there is always room for a really good horse.
"The 2-year-olds are not included on that list; they are with other trainers who break and train them down for me. Diederik Meilink, Anders Göstasson, and Tobias Gustafsson are responsible for the 2-year-olds before they come to me. There are a few injured horses that are off and they are also not on my list," says Djuse.
Setback after the collar-bone surgery
Mattias himself is also on the injured list and has to watch his staff train the horses. Before Christmas, Mattias Djuse was run into in a race and hurt himself so badly that he had to have collar-bone surgery.
"I simply got run over," he says.
"Unfortunately, I had a setback after the surgery, which means I have to rest another couple of weeks before I can train horses again. But the bone is healing correctly now, at least".
"Hurt himself after the E3 final – a horse for V75"
Until he can get back into the training cart again, Mattias could possibly celebrate another win this Wednesday. Bjerke and Solvalla are co-hosting this week's V86 Xpress and the card is spiced up by a jackpot. A sole winner could take home SEK 32 million with all eight winners picked and Djuse has one V86 starter. It is the 5-year-old gelding Beenthereseenthat who recently made his seasonal debut and finished fifth in a long distance race. He is a horse that has been in many tough races when he was younger, such as several of the Margareta races as well as an E3 final, where he finished fourth in 1:11.2/1,609 meters behind top trotters like Following, Bedazzled Sox, and Corazon Combo.
"3 Beenthereseenthat (V86-2) took the lead in his seasonal debut and was challenged a couple of times in a long distance race. He never got a breather and got a bit tired at the end. He hadn't raced in a while and will definitely be better this time. The shorter distance is also an advantage. He has a good post position and he can leave fast. I hope he can take the lead and if he does, he should have a chance to win".
"He hurt himself after the E3 final and it took over a year to get him back after that injury. Now he is sound and healthy and he looks happy and alert after his last start. I think he is a horse that should do well in these types of races going forward and also in V75 once he gets into real form. It's not impossible that he could go wire-to-wire this time, because, as I said, he feels good. Open bridle and an American sulky again, then we will see about the shoes, if he will race without corks or just shorter corks than in his last start," says Mattias Djuse.