V86® (jackpot): "Tarzan's" top mare keeps winning – "Has progressed immensely"
The hottest mare in Sweden right now?
Decision Maker has been a frequent visitor of the country's winner circles lately and is now chasing another victory in V86.
"She has progressed immensely since last fall," says trainer Stefan Melander.
A V86 not very hard to solve last week resulted in no payout for six winners picked.
Therefore, a jackpot is in play for this Wednesday, meaning a sole winner could take home SEK 14 million, as Solvalla shares the hosting responsibilities with Jägersro.
Avelsföreningens Jubileumslöpning, open only for mares, is the evening feature in Stockholm.
The fans will once again get the chance to see one of the best mares in the country right now. 1 Decision Maker (V86-8) has been very impressive these last few months and has piled up wins. Since the end of October, the 5-year-old mare has eight wins in ten starts – and she just seems to get better.
Trainer, owner, and breeder Stefan Melander is of course, in the tractor when we reach him on the phone.
"Yes, the weather is crazy right now, but it's getting better," says "Tarzan" before the conversation moves over to Decision Maker.
He continues:
"She has progressed immensely since last fall and everything is well with her, she feels great. Jepson was pleased with her last time out, he said she crossed the finish line at full speed and I think they could have kept going a while at that speed".
The race he talks about is Folke Hjalmarssons Minneslopp at Färjestad during the Easter weekend.
The daughter of Nuncio sprinted to victory on the front end for Carl Johan Jepson after 1:08-speed the last 500 meters.
"She seems incredibly good in training after that start and I have no complaints. She will race a bit more frequently going forward and this looks like a nice spot for her at Solvalla".
Keeps getting better
She faces only six opponents in the closing leg this Wednesday at her home track.
Decision Maker gets Björn Goop in the sulky on Wednesday, and she starts from post one behind the gate.
"Yes, it looks good on paper for her and the inside post works fine, she is pretty quick and since it's a short field, it should work out even if she can't hold up the lead. I leave the tactics to Björn Goop, it's usually better that way".
Decision Maker has a great looking pedigree.
Her dame Full Authority is a Scarlet Night mare, out of Melander's old top mare Yatzy Brodda. She never made it to the races herself but has made a great impact in the breeding shed instead, producing five millionaires.
Decision Maker has raced against the best her entire career but never won any of the bigger stakes. Maybe she will blossom as an older mare, instead?
How does the future look for her, are you planning on racing her in any of the bigger races this year?
"I don't know, we will take it one start at a time with her. Her drivers have said that she just keeps getting better, but at the same time, as I said, we will take it one start at a time and she will race in races like this. She's a girl and when the girls get good, they could go with the boys too. But we will see, I guess it's Stoeliten (mares open) we aim at first of all".
You have two more starters in the same race on Wednesday. 3 Crazy Life and 6 Penthouse (V86-8) – what can you tell us about them?
"Crazy Life races well pretty much every time, but normally she has no chance against Decision Maker. Penthouse has progressed a lot, I think. She was locked in and climbing over horses in her last start and two starts ago, she trotted in 1:10. All three of them feel great and they are racing well, but yes, it will be tough for them to beat Decision Maker".
In the sixth leg, you have four starters; 5 Solo Traveler, 6 Anacott Steel, 8 La Forza, and 12 Solitarian (V86-6). Are they of interest to the bettors?
"Solo Traveler is a nice mare who we have gone pretty easy on so far, hoping that she will be good going forward. When all is said and done, I think she is the best out of those four in this race. I also think La Forza feels great, but she has had some different issues and she also drew badly. It's pretty much the same thing for all four, they haven't been pushed yet but will get sharper with time. It feels in training that there is room for progress, but they need to race more. I would rank Solo Traveler first out of mine, followed by La Forza and then the other two," says Stefan Melander.