V85®: An early bid despite tough conditions
The last time he had a trailing position in V85, he delivered a formidable closing rally to finish second.
If the pieces fall into place this time, he can take them all down.
"It is a difficult task, but he is good enough to do it," says Ready Creation’s trainer and driver Andreas Lövdal ahead of Saturday’s V85® at Färjestad.
After a brilliant fall season with three straight wins, Ready Creation (V85-8) was not recognizable when Solvalla hosted the STL Finals during the Christmas weekend. He could not get his gait together and was taken out of the race after one lap.
"I had taken too much weight off him for that start, and it simply did not work; he broke into pace after a while. I thought he was ready, but he still needs a bit of weight up front and we have to race him with a slightly heavier balance for a while longer," explains Andreas Lövdal, whose horse straightened out any possible question marks when he impressed with a win from the lead on V86 on Wednesday.
"It was very good! He had to leave hard to defend the lead and that usually sits in the legs when you race under 1:10 like that in winter. I thought it would show down the stretch, but he won quite clearly and that was a strong effort by him."
"Impossible to trot much faster"
The five-year-old has taken four of his five wins from the lead. That he can also finish blazing fast from a covered-up position is beyond any doubt. When he started in V85® in November from an "impossible" post twelve and reached the stretch sitting at the back of the pack, he delivered a whirlwind finish to second place.
"I think he is at his very best in the lead; he defends himself very well from there, but he is versatile, and it is impossible to trot much faster than he did when he was second that time. Granted, he raced without hind shoes then, and I think he will be even faster when we can take them off again in the spring, but it was positive that he showed he can also deliver strong performances from off the pace."
On Saturday, Ready Creation starts post eleven behind the gate in the Swedish Trotting League Class I, one class higher than at his most recent appearance on V85. Despite that, he will be one of the most betted horses in the race.
"It is a tough task and we are, of course, dependent on there being pace in the race, but I have a horse under nice development that I hope and believe will have a good season. If everything clicks, he is good enough to win."