V85®: The brother duo turns up the heat at home: "They feel incredible"
The fan favorite and last year’s fourth-place finisher in the Elitloppet is back.
Together with his brother Maroon Day, A Fair Day will warm up the home-track January crowd when V85 is raced in Kalmar.
"It’s very much about how the horses are feeling. Whether it’s called winter or spring doesn’t matter much to me," says Elisabeth Almheden ahead of the star’s imminent comeback.
"Affe and Rooney" are back on V85.
Perhaps Swedish harness racing’s most popular four-legged brother duo takes center stage at Kalmartravet on Saturday.
Maroon Day made his comeback on the home track as recently as Friday, won with ease, and immediately set his sights on Saturday’s Silver Division. That also saw big brother A Fair Day join the entry lists.
We reach trainer and owner Elisabeth Almheden on Monday morning.
She spent the weekend unwinding at a spa in Tylösand. Or at least tried to. The phone has been ringing nonstop over the past 24 hours.
"Yes, it’s a bit funny…there are five of us horse girls, some who help me in the stable and so on. We’ve been here since yesterday and said we were going to think about something other than horses for a while…but I think that’s all we’ve talked about. Still, it’s been nice. It’s not just the horses that are fired up, but now we’re heading home, and then it’s back to the stable," says "Lisa".
Feeling fresh and eager to race
5 A Fair Day (V85-3) had a strong 2025 season.
In addition to the meritorious fourth place in the Elitloppet final, he recorded eight wins from another twelve starts, with the victory in Müller’s Memorial in October as a particular feather in his cap. A Fair Day defeated Francesco Zet and became the historic first winner on V85.
"Affe just feels great right now. We brought him to Kalmar on Friday when 'Rooney' was racing anyway, so Oscar Ginman got to feel him in a workout, and he was pleased. So, I said: Then we’ll enter him as well. It was only about two months ago that the horse last raced, and it doesn’t feel like he’s lost much form since then, rather the opposite. Of course, this is his first race of the year, and there are some tough opponents, especially Stens Rubin. It will be exciting."
Was it your plan for A Fair Day to make his seasonal debut this early?
"He has always rested over the winter before, and that’s been the case now as well. But for me, it’s more about how the horses are feeling. Maroon Day, he really needed to get going; he was so restless, and that’s when the thoughts about 'Affe' started as well. He came along when we went to the track to train intervals, and you could feel that he hadn’t lost anything. He was really fresh and eager to race. It’s a lot about weather and conditions, how the horses are feeling and what tracks they’ve trained on, so whether it’s called winter or spring doesn’t matter that much to me," says the trainer and adds:
"And of course, the fact that it’s at home in Kalmar matters as well. They thrive there and feel at home. I probably wouldn’t have gone anywhere else to race at this point. They feel incredibly fine, both of them. They’ve put on some weight and are happy. It really couldn’t be better than it is now."
He usually races barefoot, but racing with shoes now might not make that much of a difference?
"No, I don’t think it will matter much for him. He trains with corks now, but of course, he won’t need them on Saturday. We’ll find some thinner shoes for him."
There’s a race at the end of May…
A Fair Day has a special drawing power among Swedish harness racing fans.
Many naturally want to see him in the very biggest races of the season, and the question of how the plans for the rest of the year look is, of course, justified.
"I’m only thinking about the Elitloppet…," laughs "Lisa" and continues:
"No, I don’t really know yet. There are many races. Charlottenlund (Copenhagen Cup, editor’s note) is a race I'd like to race in this year, and Milemästaren on the mile track in Tingsryd is interesting. But I take it one step at a time. Weather and conditions, and how he’s feeling, will dictate a lot. He might get some rest for a while, then come back. We’ll look at the races going forward in March and April and see. And then there’s, of course, something there at the end of May that’s tempting…"
Little brother 5 Maroon Day (V85-7), or "Rooney" as he’s called.
The chestnut hadn’t raced since the end of October when he, on Friday, comfortably won a matinée race in Kalmar. Now the newly minted millionaire makes his debut in the Silver Division.
"He looked really good last time, exactly how a horse should look in every way. It was wonderful to see him, and it really couldn’t have been better. Oscar was also very pleased with him and thought the horse felt very good."
Now he will race back-to-back weeks, but that doesn’t have to be a disadvantage?
"We’ve never really done that before, but I don’t think it matters that much for him. It’s more about long travel that might not suit this horse, then he becomes a bit more sensitive. But going into Kalmar isn’t really a trip at all; he likes that. It’s a bit like a day at work for him."
So do we already have two bankers on V85?
"You have to believe in your horses, and I do. But of course, Stens Rubin is not easy to beat for A Fair Day. We should have swapped post positions with each other, then it would have been really good," concludes Elisabeth Almheden.