V86®: Lövdal delighted with his new winning machine – "He delivers every time"
Andreas Lövdal has an exciting Wednesday ahead as he sends out two good horses in V86®.
One of them is Night Hawk, who is chasing his sixth straight victory and remains undefeated under Lövdal’s care after three wins in a row.
"He’s an enormously capable horse, one of the most exciting in my stable. He’s been fantastic in these starts for me and has won very easily every time," says the Solvalla trainer.
This Wednesday’s V86 Xpress is shared between Axevalla and Solvalla. At the capital’s track, local trainer Andreas Lövdal will start two nice horses on the card. One of them is the highly capable but injury-prone Night Hawk, who has made a brilliant comeback in his new stable. The horse is now seven years old and has only made nine career starts, seven of which ended in victory. Last summer, Night Hawk returned to racing after a two-year layoff, making his debut for Lövdal. Since then, he has won three in a row for his new trainer, impressing each time.
"11 Night Hawk (V86-6) is a fantastic horse, enormously capable, but he has struggled with injuries. That’s why he’s been late to develop—or even considered old—and hasn’t raced much for his age. I don’t know exactly what the issues have been, other than various leg problems. He’s been brought back to training, had setbacks again, and so on. But with us, knock on wood, it has worked well so far," says Lövdal.
And he continues:
"We don’t train him that hard. Because he’s such a good horse, he could be trained more, but I prefer to keep him sound and healthy. That’s something you must always keep in mind, and instead, the races themselves help develop him. He’s been fantastic in these starts and has won very easily every time."
"He’s so complete – that’s what makes him so great"
Night Hawk has been dominant every time for Lövdal, winning with plenty left in hand.
"Last time, he won on a somewhat heavy track at Färjestad after the rain made it sticky. He won very comfortably over the long distance, and he’s such a cool horse—laid back and doesn’t waste any energy. But he knows when it matters and when it doesn’t."
"Above all, he’s so complete in every way, and that’s what makes him such a great horse. There are no real weaknesses—he’s very all-round. He’s quick from the start, calm and easy to handle, and can race from any position," says Lövdal.
I always believe this horse can win – now with the Finntack sulky
Night Hawk is the favorite in the sixth leg of V86, starting from post 11 over the middle distance with his trainer in the sulky. Lövdal admits that his winning machine now faces his toughest challenge yet.
"He’s trained well since his last start and felt good. He now has a few starts in his legs and should hopefully be able to show even more each time. It feels like he’s really starting to hit form now, which is needed, as this is clearly his most challenging task so far. He’s moving up a class and is facing some very good horses, but it’ll be exciting to test him against tougher opponents. The horses he’s faced so far haven’t been able to match him."
"It’ll be interesting to see, and even if the draw isn’t great, I always believe I can win when I drive this horse. He’s strong, tough, and can make a move early if needed. I entered him with an American sulky, but most likely he’ll go in the Finntack sulky instead. He’s so big and wide, and the American sulky might be too tight. But it’ll be his first time in the Finntack sulky. Otherwise, no changes—he’ll go barefoot all around again," says Lövdal, whose stable has earned SEK 2.5 million so far this year compared to SEK 2.6 million in all of last year.
She has surprised – showing incredible speed and strength
The Solvalla trainer also has another interesting starter on the V86® card, this time in the final leg, where Datos Marianna makes her fourth start for Lövdal. The three-year-old filly has already collected one win and two second-place finishes for her new trainer. She impressed greatly when she won two starts ago at Solvalla, where she trotted a tough final kilometer three wide and rallied past good rivals. Now she will race barefoot up front for the first time, in a race with SEK 200,000 to the winner.
"9 Datos Marianna (V86-8) is an interesting horse who has surprised me a lot. She has incredible speed, and last time she also showed tremendous strength. She seems good at many things, and her only weakness is that she loses a bit of ground at the start. Last time, she was in a tough race with a fast pace, but performed very well. She tired late but still held on strongly."
"From post nine, she should get a good race before going into the Oaks eliminations, which is her next goal. A nice trip would be ideal considering what’s ahead, but she definitely has a chance here. This time, she’ll go barefoot up front for the first time, which should suit her as she tends to go to her knees a bit. Still the regular sulky and otherwise no changes," says Lövdal.