V86®: Philip de Luca has three interesting starters – "Looks exciting"
He is on track for his best year so far as a professional trainer and has three interesting horses entered in Wednesday’s V86®.
Philip di Luca believes none of them are without a chance – but has the most confidence in Tangelo, who is coming off an encouraging second-place finish last time out.
"He was good then, and I think he has taken another step forward ahead of this race. He may race barefoot all around now, and it looks exciting," says Philip di Luca.
Wednesday’s V86® Xpress is split between Åby and Solvalla. At the capital track, Philip di Luca sends out three in-form horses within the big-money wager, and the Eskilstuna-based trainer has enjoyed a strong season with nearly SEK 2 million earned – already surpassing previous career highs.
"It's been quite a good year, but maybe we’re missing a few more wins to be completely satisfied. But things are steadily moving in the right direction every year, so I think it’s definitely acceptable," says Philip di Luca, who trains 25 horses.
"This is my best chance to win"
The first of those to race in V86 is Tangelo in the second leg. He has made two starts for Philip di Luca and, after finishing third in his debut, he was second last time. The question is whether he can win now.
"10 Tangelo (V86-2) raced well last time, and it felt like he had improved from his first start for me. Based on how he has felt in training since then, I believe he has taken another step forward ahead of this race. The horse has also previously shown that he likes racing with short intervals between starts. I think he is well-placed in this race, and perhaps the overall quality isn’t the highest. It looks exciting, and he may go barefoot all around, but we will evaluate that closer to race day, depending on his feet and the weather. I think he should be in the fight, and I consider him my best winning chance," says Philip di Luca.
"Has been good lately and is in fine form"
"5 Je t’aime Legacy (V86-4) has been good lately and is in fine form, I think. He won convincingly two starts back and was also very strong last time from post twelve. He finished with plenty of trot left, and it feels like the form remains intact. He has felt good in training after that and should be able to get a nice trip from this post. We’ll see how far it takes him. He will not race barefoot all around as first listed, but instead barefoot in front and with shoes behind."
"Blinkers now – an advantage if we plan to fire off the gate"
"1 Husar Brick (V86-6) performed well last time from an unfavorable post, and it was a positive effort because he hasn’t been as effective racing from behind earlier. So that was a step in the right direction. Now he has the inside post and should get a good trip from there. He can leave the gate fairly well, but the driver will fire away as best as possible and see where he ends up. We will likely race him with blinkers to make him even quicker from the start. He has raced with it before, but recently he has worn a pull-down bridle. But blinkers are probably an advantage if we want to accelerate from the start. He will race with shoes all around now, but that isn’t a big negative," says Philip di Luca.