V86® (double jackpot): Friendly Bruce Wednesday's dark horse
A long-striding and friendly colt who is still playful.
Per Lennartsson has great faith in the three-year-old Bruce Braylon.
The Eskilstuna trainer looks forward to the task in V86® on Wednesday, but there are some reservations.
"He definitely has the speed required to win a race like this, but with horses this inexperienced, you can never really know."
The lowest class in the Solvalla series for horses with up to SEK 220,000 earned is the third leg of Wednesday’s V86® card.
Jonathan Bardun’s four-year-old 3 Blyger S.R.P. is chasing his fourth straight victory and will be the favorite, and behind him is Per Lennartsson’s 1 Bruce Braylon, who has won three of eight races during his debut season.
There is nothing wrong with his presence. The three-year-old is handsome. But his inexperience causes problems at times, and last time he broke stride early as a heavily supported horse at Solvalla.
"He has done almost everything right all along, but he broke shortly before the start. Just lunged into a break. He meant well, but tangled his legs. He lost 30–40 meters and then trotted a very good time and crossed the finish line at full speed. So he certainly has the speed needed to win races like the one on Wednesday," says Per Lennartsson.
Bruce Braylon has raced with shoes in all three of his victories and works well with that balance. The fact that his breaks have come barefoot, Lennartsson chalks up to bad luck, and he looks forward to pulling the shoes again next season.
The horse is naturally quick from the start and has taken the lead in two of his wins in the volt start. In his debut behind the gate in September, Lennartsson chose to take it easy from post two, and then Bruce Braylon won the race with big strides after a trip along the inside instead.
"He is absolutely a raw talent. Both physically, but above all, in his elegance when he trots and picks up speed. He doesn’t usually use much energy to move forward quickly, and he won very easily after the inside trip at Solvalla. When I moved him out, everything went perfectly, and it felt like he had done it a hundred times. Another time, he understood absolutely nothing after a similar trip."
Terrific gait – potentially
Lennartsson explains the advantages and disadvantages of horses that cover a lot of ground.
"It’s both good and bad. For a long-striding horse, it can get a bit tricky now and then when you’re still inexperienced. Still, it feels like he could end up with a terrific gait behind the starting gate once he’s fully developed. That’s where he’s a little short as of now. You can feel he hasn’t quite reached the point where he can use his full capacity. But he is green. Everything isn’t obvious in his head yet. Some three-year-olds know exactly what to do, and for others it takes longer. Bruce is a horse that finds things easy, but doesn’t really understand how to use it all one hundred percent just yet," he says.
A bit vulnerable from the inside
He is pleased with the inside post on Wednesday, but the position can also be a trap. It’s a three-year-old who cannot quite use the early speed the trainer feels the horse has.
Bruce Braylon might take the lead, but could just as well have to attack from behind or get stuck in traffic.
"You have to give him a few strides, and that means he’s a bit vulnerable and might get boxed in from there. It’s rare to find colts as smart and sensible as he is. He’s a colt who does everything for you. He never shows aggressive tendencies or does anything stupid. He doesn’t care much about anything other than what he’s supposed to do. So there are absolutely no plans to geld him," says Per Lennartsson.
The stable also sends out the nine-year-old 6 Cyrano de B. (V86-6).
"Cyrano de B. struggles to regain the inspiration and motivation to win races, but he earns money very well. I’ll give him an easy trip and hope he can be third or fourth," says Lennartsson.
Springsteen and a football player
Firma Jarmelid Förvaltning owns the horse. The breeders are a well-known couple in the breeding world: Lars and Annette Palm.
Breeders must name all their horses. Bruce Braylon has the Italian mare Lightning Kronos as his granddam, and the couple have worked with American movie stars along that maternal line: Perkins (after Anthony Perkins), Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, and Janet Leigh.
And Bruce Braylon’s dam, of course, is Audrey Hepburn.
We learn that the name of Wednesday’s dark horse in V86-4 is a combination.
Annette Palm:
"He has been a very nice horse ever since he was little. Lena Andersson, who looked after him, wanted him to be named Bruce after Bruce Springsteen. There was a discussion about that when I wanted him to be named Braylon, after the American football star Braylon Edwards. So we said he can have both names," says breeder Annette Palm.