Here is a special blog report-- exclusive to First Over-- from fellow attorney and horseman Peter Kleinhans, who is over in Sweden with his great trotter, Enough Talk. Peter, take it away:
"Greetings to all U.S. Racing fans from Sweden! It is an honor to represent the United States in Sunday's Elitlopp, and I hope that Enough Talk can do America proud. The flight to Amsterdam and the drive from there to Solvalla racetrack, near Sweden's capitol, Stockholm, seems to have taken nothing out of him. He's eating well and feeling terrific; I'm not sure exactly what to expect from the local competition, but I'm sure that Talk will give a fine account of himself.
"No matter what happens in the race, however, I am already certain that I made the right decision in accepting the invitation to compete. What a beautiful country Sweden is: clean, calm, and low stress. The people here have given Enough Talk, his groom Jen Durden, and myself a royal welcome- literally. In addition to paying for the horse's shipping and for our flights and rooms, they have treated us as celebrities, introducing us to reporters, trainers, and officials. Today, Annette, the wonderfully bubbly hospitality manager at Solvalla, took us on a tour of the royal stables, which- for sheer magnificence and polish- puts any other equestrian facility I have seen to shame. As part of the presentation, we got to watch as the King and Queen of Sweden paraded by in elegant horse-drawn carraiges. Not a bad perk for getting an opportunity to race against the best trotters in the world.
Enough Talk is stabled at the barn of Mike Andersson, a meticulous and exceptionally friendly trainer who has gone out of his way to make us feel at home. Although Mike has a training style relatively familiar to American trainers, including six miles of jogging per day, many of his Swedish peers have methods which would seem unusual to our stateside trainers. Instead of jogging daily, most of the horses here are turned out most days, and then come in for once or twice-weekly sessions of interval training: six or seven 5/16-mile dashes down a straightaway, with about three or four minutes in-between. The horses here are a curious mixture of American, French, and Swedish breeding with influences from other European countries making their presences felt as well. There are no pacers here, and while many of the European-bred trotters can look a bit high-going and awkward to the American eye, they seem to just keep on going- and often they do, in races upwards of 1 1/2 miles at times.
Tomorrow will be Enough Talk's main pre-race training session; assuming the weather is good (it rained today), I plan on taking him a mile-and-a-half first trip in about 3:30, followed by a mile in a race bike in about 2:02. He'll just walk on Thursday, jog Friday and Saturday, and should be all set for his Sunday battle.
I'll keep you informed on how he's doing over the next day or two, and will give you my impressions of the racing tomorrow night when I head over to make a wager or two. The only complaint I have here is with the track program- there is so little information in it that I can't imagine how a bettor can form a serious opinion. I hear that many of the best gamblers here watch all the races and take their own notes, and I can believe it, because they would gain a huge edge. Most of the betting here is part of the V75- which can also be seen and bet upon in America, at The Meadowlands, for example. This is a pick-7, where you must pick at least 5 winners to cash a ticket. These races are broadcast nationally, on the main television station, every Saturday afternoon.
I'll write more soon; right now it's time for some more smoked fish for dinner!"
Comments
Post A Comment
