V75® (jackpot): Has Savastano finally broken through?
Fastest of all on the middle-distance during the Elitloppet weekend.
Now Savastano is recharged.
“He’s a true elite horse. Now we’re got to win on Sunday too,” says Adrian Kolgjini ahead of the Midsummer weekend in Kalmar.
It was one of the most impressive performances of the Elitloppet weekend.
Savastano stormed to victory in the Bronze Division final with a world-class time of 1:10.1 over 2,140 meters, five lengths ahead of the nearest rival and over a second faster than the Silver Division final, just half an hour earlier.
In fact, Kolgjini’s five-year-old was by far the fastest of all horses that raced over distances longer than a sprint that weekend.
One explanation for the performance was that the five-year-old raced barefoot for the first time in his career.
“We’ve waited until he was ready. He hasn’t been an early horse, and we've had to adapt to that, both in terms of training and balance. Now we pulled the shoes, and the horse showed he was ready for it,” says Adrian Kolgjini.
What difference did you feel in the sulky?
“He got a much cleaner gait, just as we expected.”
On Sunday, the horse will race with shoes again, but more on that later.
Big speed already as a three-year-old
Let’s start from the beginning and note that Savastano’s journey to the top has been a long and winding road.
He showed great potential early on, debuting as a massive favorite at his home track Jägersro in May as a three-year-old, trotting 1:13.5 over 1,600 meters and finishing second after a break. That was followed by a blow-out win in 1:15, with the last 400 meters at 1:09 speed.
In his fifth start, he won in 1:13.2 over the middle-distance and got to try his luck in the Kriterium eliminations at Solvalla in the fall.
There, he drew post eight behind the gate and just missed the final, finishing third behind the eventual winner Fame and Glory and early star Frank S.H.
However, his four-year-old season was a big disappointment, ending winless after only seven starts.
After five months of winter training, Savastano returned to V75® in Kalmar on February 1 as a long shot in a field featuring the win machine Jackpot Mearas.
An early break placed Savastano at the back of the field, but the GPS tracking showed a finishing rally of 1:07 the last 700 meters and a blistering 1:04.5 the last 200, securing second place behind the big favorite.
“That was a fantastic seasonal debut and one of the coolest finishes I’ve ever driven. We swept the entire field, except the winner,” says Adrian Kolgjini.
Fastest without winning
That was followed by an easy win going into the Class I final at Solvalla.
Once again, Savastano faced Jackpot Mearas, and the two horses engaged in an epic duel, where Savastano had to race on the outside and was unable to pass the leader, timed in 1:11.2 over 2,140 meters, the same time that future Elitloppet finalist Mellby Jinx won the Gold final in an hour later.
But the breakthrough would have to wait a bit longer.
Two starts over the sprint distance in April ended with fourth and fifth places, even though Savastano had the best recorded performance times of all horses in both races, according to the GPS tracking data.
He secured his spot in the final in Denmark, finishing second after being interfered with in the stretch.
"Perfect after the race"
After all these top performances without getting to the winner’s circle, it was no surprise Adrian Kolgjini was especially pleased during the Elitloppet weekend, when Savastano left his nemesis Jackpot Mearas behind down the stretch, with the rest of the field left far behind.
“That felt so good. And it was nice that he finally got to show what we’ve believed all along, that he’s a true elite horse.”
Does he feel like an elite horse now?
“Yes, he’s always had the potential, and now it feels like he’s reached it. I’d be surprised if this race weren't a springboard up to the very top for him. This barefoot performance will develop him even more.”
How did he come out of the race?
“He’s felt great. We haven’t had to take him to the vet all year, but after Solvalla, we brought him to (Jonas) Tornell for a check-up. But he could barely find anything. So, it seems he’s a tough horse who can handle races like these, which you have to be if you’re going to race at the top level,” says Adrian Kolgjini.
“A very important race”
This Sunday equals another trip to Kalmar for the track’s annual Midsummer races.
That Savastano is debuting in the Silver division seems like a minor detail compared to the times he’s been trotting, but starting in the second tier and the fact that there are two red shoe symbols in the program are factors that might make many bettors doubt this will be another easy win.
“Now we’ve seen that barefoot works, and we’ll save that extra gear for the Jubileumspokalen (Sweden’s biggest five-year-old race, the Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg’s Trophy at Solvalla on August 20, with SEK 1.5 million to the winner, ed's note.). That’s our next big goal.”
So, you’re not racing at Kalmar on Sunday to qualify for the Silver division final that day?
“No, we’re not. But it’s still a very important race on Sunday. As far as I can see, we need another 1,000 starting points to make it to Solvalla, and we need to start by winning this race.”
Will the horse race with the same balance as before?
“No, this time he’ll race with real racing shoes. Previously, he’s always raced with a lot of weight, so he’s never raced with shoes this light before. That should make him sharper compared to previous races with shoes.”
Do you think he can be singled on the V75 tickets?
“Yes. Based on how he felt after the race at Solvalla, I do. I’m not celebrating Midsummer so hard that I’ll waste the race in the back of the field, if anyone thought that.”
Shoes pulled and going for the lead?
Also making the trip to Kalmar is the five-year-old mare Countess Face, who has had a pretty miserable start to the season in terms of results.
“Yes, it’s such a shame. She’s actually in very good form, but everything has gone wrong. Last time she was locked in, and two starts ago, she made a break at the start but trotted fast after the miscue (with a performance time of 1:11.3 over the distance of 1,951 meters according to the GPS tracking data, ed's note). She’s not as good as Clarissa if she's at her best, but if things go her way, she could finish in the top three. If I leave with her, she’s really fast and might take the lead,” says Adrian Kolgjini, who also has an ace up his sleeve here.
“I’m leaning towards pulling all her shoes this time. She’s only raced that way once in her life—last year in the Mare Derby, where she made a break during the early speed duel. It can make a big difference for a five-year-old who’s always raced with shoes, as we saw with Savastano.”