V86®: (Wednesday): Strong start for Lövdal as a trainer
He has gotten a good start as a fresh professional trainer and his stable is showing a winning percentage of 50.
In V86® this Wednesday, Andreas Lövdal has the chance to add to that number since The Pirate should have a good chance to win.
"He's a horse who loves to win and he made it to the Norwegian Derby final last year. I think he should have a chance to win and I would like to try him barefoot" says Lövdal.
After having been the go-to guy in the Timo Nurmos stable for the last six years, Andreas Lövdal now runs his own stable. The successful apprentice, who has done very well in the sulky and has improved his number each year, is now a professional trainer. In the middle of August, he took out his trainer’s license and he is stabled at Norrby Gård in Tystberga. As of today, Andreas has ten horses in training and is off to a tremendous start. So far, he has three wins in six starts and it could not have started any better.
"It has gone very well and it feels great. It's nice to have gotten that first win so I don't have that hanging over me" says Andreas Lövdal.
Been successful in recent years – "Time to try on my own"
As a driver, he had his best year last year with 55 wins and earnings of SEK 4.7 million. The year before, Lövdal's earnings were SEK 3.5 million, and as of September 25, he has almost reached SEK 3 million. The 27-year-old Norwegian native has a strong resume, having worked for successful trainers. After moving to Sweden and graduating from Wången, Andreas worked for five different trainers. He made two short stops working for Per Linderoth and Carl-Otto Göransson, before moving on to work for Jerry Riordan for a year and a half. But Andreas made a name for himself working for Timo Nurmos, where he was the go-to guy for reporters asking about the stable's horses. After a break when he worked for Jörgen Westholm for nine months, Lövdal came back to the Nurmos stable, where he worked almost for six years.
"These last years have gone great, I have to say. I have been able to drive better and better horses and above all I have been able to drive more often. More continuity gives you more experience. Driving good horses means a lot for one's success. I loved working for Timo and I learned a lot, but the plan was always to be a trainer one day. Now it was time to try on my own and it feels great" says Lövdal.
Exciting Norwegian winning machine in the stable – "I would like to try him barefoot now"
The Solvalla licensed trainer has an exciting horse in his stable, the new arrival The Pirate, who won 8 out of 16 starts last year and made it to the final of the Norwegian Trotting Derby, where he made a break. He has now made two starts for Lövdal and after finishing third in his first start, where he made a great comeback after an early break, he won by open lengths in 1:13.6/2,640 meters last time out. In this Wednesday's V86, where Super Days now starts, The Pirate starts from post two in the sixth leg at Solvalla.
"2 The Pirate (V86-6) is a horse who loves to win and has shown that he is very good. It's nice to get such a nice horse in training this early and he will exciting to follow. Last time out he won in a good way and beat them easily down the stretch. He was very good and didn't have to go all out".
"The race on Wednesday is a bit tougher and it's a more even field with better horses. But my horse feels great and I think he will race well again. If he does, I think he is good enough against these horses too and he is one of the horses who can win the race if he minds his manners. I would like to try him barefoot all around now, we will see how his feet look. He has raced with shoes in both starts for me. This time, since it's volt start, he has to race in a regular style sulky, he has raced in an American sulky in his most recent starts" says Andreas Lövdal.