V86® Super Days (Friday):Tjomsland in the long race?
Strong horses.
A stable in top form.
'Långa Loppet' (The Long Race) over three kilometers shouldn't be a problem for Valle Hugo and Hvalstad Odin in the Friday night coldblood race in Sundsvall.
*Everything looks good going into the race" says Jimmy Jonsson in the Øystein Tjomsland stable.
The betting company ATG's big drive Super Days will Friday night reach Sundsvall and Bergsåker racetrack. The Friday night card is the third of six that will culminate in a multi jackpot card next Wednesday September 2.
Bergsåker is the co-host of the Friday night card together with Bjerke in Norway. In V86-5 the coldbloods will enter the track for 'Långa Loppet' with SEK 100,000 to the winner.
Øystein Tjomsland with a stable at the Sundsvall track should always get a close look when there's big money on the line. Jimmy Jonsson has nothing negative to report - quite the contrary.
"Both our horses are in very good form. The only thing that separates them is that one of them needs a nice trip here" says Jonsson, assistant trainer in the Tjomsland stable.
Örjan Kihlström will drive five year old Valle Hugo who will start with a 20 meter handicap in the three kilometer race.
Kihlström will drive the horse for the third consecutive time in August. In the coldblood divison at Romme Valle Hugo finished a close second. Last Saturday he finished fourth on V75 at Solänget but didn't quite get in the race from his 20 meter handicap.
"He raced well finishing fourth, there was no pace upfront. Örjan said he didn't pull the earhood or anything. He trotted as fast as he could the last 500 meters" says Jimmy Jonsson.
Kihlström likes Hugo
That the very sought after driver Örjan Kihlström chooses to drive Valle Hugo is a good testimony.
"As far as I know he hasn't talked to anyone of us in the stable but I know that when he likes a horse he usually continues to drive. Valle Hugo gave us a good effort in his last start so it feels like his form is still very good".
Ole Johan Østre's Rappnor will be driven by Jorma Kontio in 'Långa Loppet' (V86-5) and will be one of the favorites in the race. Last time Valle Hugo raced against Rappnor with the same conditions as on Friday, Øystein Tjomsland's horse finished ahead of Rappnor.
"3,160 meters should be fine for Valles Hugo. I think he's pretty versatile. He can race on all distances and has no distinguished 'weapen' to use, he's good at everything instead. He doesn't leave super fast and he doesn't have any explosive speed but he's also not super strong so he is pretty much equally good at everything. He will race the way he usually does, barefoot, with a blind bridle and in an American sulky" says Jimmy Jonsson.
So with the right tactics by Örjan Kihlström Valles Hugo could be the winner on Friday?
"There are some good horses in the race, but yes I think he could".
You will drive nine year old 12 Hvalstads Odin who won his first two starts for the Tjomsland stable last fall but hasn't won since then.
"He's also in good form. He raced very well in Finland two weeks ago in race that was raced in back to back days. It was a race open only for geldings with a sprint race on Friday and a long distance race the next day, Saturday. Hvalstad actually finished second overall".
What type of horse is he?
"Hvalstad Odin is more of a temperamental type of horse than Valle Hugo. Since he had two tough races in Finland, I will give him a nice trip this time. I will save his speed for the stretch and we'll see how far that will take him. He's pretty speedy if he wants to. No changes, he will race like he usually does, barefoot upfront".
Editor's note: After Friday V86 Super Days will continue on Monday and Tuesday next week. Any jackpot money will go into the Wednesday pool. How big that multi jackpot pool at Åby/Solvalla will be depends on how much money accumulates up until and including Tuesday. Already before V86 Super Days started there was SEK 4.9 millions in the jackpot pool.