V75® (Saturday): "A super horse with a super post position"
Last time, his winning streak was broken.
From a perfect draw over his favorite distance, he can start a new one on Saturday.
"I think we have a damn good chance," says the Italian horse’s trainer.
Daytona Cash (V75-6) wasn’t quite himself in his most recent start, losing ground from the pocket and finishing fifth in the Class 1 final at Solvalla.
"I had several horses underperform that weekend. We had made a hay change, and it caused the whole stable to dip. But now things are turning around, and the horses are getting back to the same high level as before the hay change. Maybe we expect a little too much from Daytona Cash as well. Still, he lowered his middle-distance record by more than a second. His hind feet were also a bit worn down, but with hind shoes back on Saturday, he’ll be better," says trainer Veikko Haapakangas.
He is just in after training his six-year-old Italian when we catch up with him on Monday.
"He was a bit fired up at the start, but then felt really nice. He’s a bit special to drive, but once he’s had a chance to stretch out, he feels good, and I think his form is where it should be."
"A super horse with a super post position"
That last start was the third since the gelding moved to Haapakangas’s care after being purchased from Italy by Denco HB in June. Daytona Cash had seven straight wins before the streak was broken last time. In total, the speedy gelding has 16 victories from 40 starts and nearly SEK 800,000 in earnings.
"He’s improving all the time and has stepped up another notch here in Sweden. He trots high 1:10 times quite easily, and I think he can start going down toward low 1:10 if everything goes right. I have pretty high expectations for him going forward, but we’ll see."
On Saturday, Daytona Cash makes his debut in the Bronze Division, and the conditions—inside post behind the gate over 1,640 meters—could hardly be better.
"He’s a super horse with a super post position, and he’s shown that he works well at Jägersro. About five or six weeks ago, he won a race there with SEK 100,000 to the winner in 1:11.0. I think we have a damn good chance."
How good is his chance to reach the lead?
"I don’t know how quick the others are, but I think he’ll be faster now with hind shoes on, and they’ll need to be sharp to pass him out of the gate. If he doesn’t take the lead, he’ll still get a good trip from the inside. We’ll see. That’s up to the driver (Per Linderoth) to figure out."