V86® (jackpot): "An ideal race for him"

Three horses racing.
Two with a chance to win.
"Knud is our best chance," says Christoffer Eriksson ahead of Wednesday’s V86® races.

Summer is almost over, and we’re returning to the regular schedule. Wednesday’s V86 race cards will again be split between two tracks. This Wednesday, Solvalla and Åby share the hosting duties, and the race card is spiced up with a jackpot of SEK 15 million.
Regardless of the season, Christoffer Eriksson is keeping busy. The Åby trainer has raced frequently all year with strong results. So far, the stable’s horses have earned nearly SEK 7 million and win roughly one in every five races.
"I’m satisfied with that, even if there’s been a slight dip in a few weeks, but that’s hard to avoid. We have around 60 horses in training, and several earn good money, which I think is a strength," says Eriksson.
In recent years, Eriksson has had great success with horses he has purchased for the stable; several have won STL races and competed successfully in France.
"I have a large network, and I check a lot myself. Naturally, it’s important to have supportive owners, and so far, the results have been good."

Interesting new acquisition
On Wednesday, Eriksson will start three horses on the card, beginning with an interesting new acquisition.
"11 A.V.'s King (V86-1) is an interesting horse I bought, and we’ve had him for just under two months. He feels good in training and does what we ask of him."
Have you tested him at any faster speed?
"I trained him in 1:21/3,000 meters in a jogcart, and he did it very well. I was completely satisfied with him."
What’s your overall impression of him?
"I’ve watched some of his starts from Norway. He’s an exciting horse; otherwise, I wouldn’t have bought him. He seems both fast and strong, and fairly complete."
How do you see him performing in this race?
"He should do well. The distance is no problem, and my feeling is that he’s in quite cheap in the class compared to what he can do."
In the third leg, 6 Rackham (V86-3) starts, who has struggled in the top class.
"I think he’s coming along. He has a few races under his belt and is getting better and better. Now he faces fairly tough opponents, but Rackham has raced well lately, and I believe and hope he will put in another good performance. How far that takes him, we’ll see, as there are some strong rivals."

Believes Knud has a good chance
Last in Eriksson’s trio is 5 Knud (V86-5), who has a very suitable task on paper.
"The conditions are ideal, and I have a lot of faith in him. I had trained him for a couple of months before his first start last time. He had a reputation as a sprinter, but you couldn't see any of that—he won very easily with a nice bounce to his stride and plenty of energy left over the middle distance."
How much has he progressed from that race?
"I hope quite a lot. He feels very good, I must say."
Will you make any changes?
"It says he raced with an American sulky last time, but he didn’t. It was very muddy, and we chose to use a regular sulky, which is probably why it’s listed as American in the graphics. This time he will race with an American sulky, no other changes."
Chance of winning?
"It has to be very good. It’s an ideal race for him with an inside draw over a short distance and suitable opponents."

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