V86®: Träff has aimed for this Wednesday
The Bollnäs licensed trained Magnus Träff gave his horses a period of training over the holidays and he thinks he has them in good form for the Wednesday races in Sundsvall.
M.T.Montpelier and Kipling River both raced well in their last starts.
"I think 'Pelle' is the better chance, but don't count the other one out either".
Magnus Träff sits in the stable, waiting for the daylight when we call him this early morning.
In the middle of January the sun rises at 8:40 AM in Bollnäs and at that time, the first training set of the day goes out.
In 2022, the small stable reached 100 starts for the first time, the win percentage was just over 18 and the earnings reached SEK 1.4 million.
The weeks around Christmas was a period of training for the Träff stable and the Wednesday V86 races at Bergsåker is an important date in the calendar during the winter.
M.T.Montpelier made many breaks last year but showed a lot of talent in between and he won five out 17 starts in 2022.
Pelle - as his stable name is - was good in his first start back as the upset winner in a V86 race at Bergsåker on January 11.
Robert Bergh was in the lead with the favorite L.L. Labero and Magnus Träff's horse beat him despite having to do all the hard work for Mats E Djuse, who gets the call again this week.
"I have looked at the race and he faces some tough horses on Wednesday, but he did last time out too and was very good then so I have to be optimistic" says Magnus Träff.
"Can do some work"
V86-7 is a handicapped sprint race started with the gate. It was no surprise that M.T.Montpelier would draw a bad post with his lifetime earnings of SEK 547,000.
"Yes, that was given when I entered. He is tough and doesn't need a certain trip and I think he should have a chance to win. If they go slow upfront, he can also do some work himself" says Träff and reading between the lines, it sounds like Pelle and Djuse could be on the move early.
The Sundsvall racetrack Bergsåker was a bit deep last week, but it should be tighter this Wednesday. M.T.Montpelier handles pretty much any type of track surface and races well both with and without shoes.
Last year was successful, but not a homerun.
"He has left some money on the track with all his breaks but h e is very good when he's on top of his game. We have changed his training schedule a bit to keep him sounder and I hope he will have a better year this year. He gets to recover a little longer after each start and so far it seems to be working out well. He feels good and fresh in training. I also think we found an extra gear in him when we started racing him in an American sulky and he really seems to like it" says Träff.
You drew two bad posts on Wednesday where the handicap of course was no surprise. In V86-5, 7 Kipling River drew second from outside behind the gate. A five-year-old who in his last start finished fourth at Bergsåker.
"Kipling also returned after a period of training and with that in mind, I thought he raced OK. He should also be better with a start in his legs".
You have said that he is a pretty nice horse but not very quick?
"I think he hasn't released the hand break yet and he doesn't really understand the concept of racing. He has raced best when he has been involved early so that might be a good strategy. He's a small horse but he has shown some talent. If he races as well as he can on Wednesday, he is not chanceless. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in the photo".
Last year, your breakthrough horse Queer Fish retired with SEK 4.2 million in earnings. His victory in Sweden Cup at Solvalla in May 2019 was of course his biggest one. What is he doing nowadays?
"He is retired right here at my farm, he gets ridden now and then and just enjoys life now".