V86®: The dream duo is chasing their seventh win in their tenth start together
A real dream duo.
There really is no other way of describing Lyckans Cash and Örjan Kihlström. Nine starts together have resulted in six wins and two second places and on Wednesday the duo will be among the favorites over the fitting long distance in the least V86 leg.
"Örjan is Örjan as we all know. He has found a great connection with the mare with his cool and calm ways which fits her very well" says the trainer Stefan Arvidsson.
The first three starts of the year ended with as many wins for Lyckans Cash who thanks to that became the big favorite at Åby in the beginning of March. Already in the warm up the warning lights came on.
"She was very good in the first warm up so everything felt good up to that point. When she came out for the second warm up she was no good at all and of course I got a bit worried, but she has done that before and has pulled herself together to be perfect in the race. Due to her history we chose not to scratch her, but she was no good in the race either and she got tired early".
"It turned out she was sick and she got a couple of weeks off and then we have trained her and she feels good now” Stefan says.
"I get a bit worried"
The form might have gotten dented from the break and that is not the only reason the trainer is a bit worried going into the race on Wednesday.
"Wednesday will be a bit of a test for her since she is in against pretty tough horses on a fast summer track. I get a bit worried how she will handle the higher speed, but hopefully she will handle that too".
"It's good that it's a long distance race - that's a huge advantage for her, especially in these mares only classes where I think the distance is even more of a decisive factor. If you ask me, I would have liked to see the race at Solvalla be three kilometers".
Solvalla is a track that Lyckans Cash seems to like to race at, six starts there have resulted in three wins and two second places.
"The reason that her results are good at Solvalla is partly due to the fact that she and Kihlström are such a great fit and it's definitely not a bad thing racing there considering her previous results" says the Bollnäs licensed trainer.
"From strength to strength"
The secret to the good results for the seven year old mare so far during 2021 is simple if you ask the trainer.
"She has gone from strength to strength during a longer period of time and has shown good progress. I think she's a nice mare with great strength most of all and I hope she will continue her nice development curve".
She drew post position six behind the gate for Wednesday, but that doesn't bother Arvidsson at all.
"Regardless of post position she can’t leave at all and the way I see it Örjan just has to find her a spot after the start. We have to hope for some help with the tempo - then she might be able to beat them at the end".
"Equipment wise we race her the same way with shoes, a regular style race bike and an open bridle. The change that might come up in the future is that we take the ear plugs out. Her feet aren't really good enough for racing barefoot so we would need to build up some hoof for that. But that's a suggestion that has to come from Örjan in that case" says Stefan Arvidsson.
It seems wise to listen to Örjan since he and Lyckans Cash get along so well together.