V86®: Red-hot Norwegian contenders ready to challenge at Solvalla’s big night
Could Solvalla's strong summer evening get a Norwegian touch?
When the STL Summer tour makes a stop in the capital, Thor Borg is sending two contenders in good form.
"Maharasha is definitely a winning candidate, she looks really good right now," says stable employee Stian Hallenstvedt.
The STL Summer continues its tour around the country, and this Wednesday, it’s the national arena Solvalla that hosts the V86® races.
The evening's racing is of the highest quality and has even attracted Norwegian participants — namely from veteran Thor Borg.
Stian Hallenstvedt is known as one of Norway’s top betting experts, but he also works as a trainer in the Thor Borg stable and has, of course, deep insight into the horses.
We gave Stian a call to check in on the stable's exciting duo competing at Solvalla.
“I haven’t fully studied the competition yet, but I would include both in the betting — and Maharasha is clearly a winning candidate, she looks very good right now,” he says.
Ready to deliver another strong performance
First up is the five-year-old mare 7 Million River (V86-4).
A horse who began her racing career in Sweden but has been with the Borg stable since last year. She seems to be thriving there, with two wins and a strong second-place finish in her last three starts.
“Million River has had several good races lately. She made a break four starts ago — she wasn’t tired when she made that break, but she was racing without shoes that day. She has poor hooves and was a bit too sensitive. But since then, she's only delivered very strong performances and is clearly a good horse for this class. She’s developed nicely recently, and we believe she’ll put in another strong effort.”
She drew post seven in this handicap. She can leave quite fast, right?
“Yes, she’s quick out of the gate, but since I haven’t looked into the opponents fully, it’s hard to say exactly how she’ll start relative to others. I think we have a horse that should be competitive here, but you always have to respect the competition — it’s Solvalla, after all, and you always face good horses there. That said, if Million River gets the right trip and everything works out, I think she’ll be right up there battling for the win.”
Feels better than ever now
More familiar to Swedish bettors is 12 Maharasha (V86-7).
This Swedish-bred five-year-old mare, like her travel companion, has competed in stake races and earlier this spring won a final in the Mare Division at Solvalla. Two starts ago, she raced in one of the undercard events during the Elitloppet weekend but had too much ground to make up and finished fourth.
“That day, she had way too far to go, but if you check the ATG X-Labs data, you’ll see she trotted the fastest time and covered the most ground. So we were still very pleased with her performance — and last time out at Bjerke, she was even better. I trained her last intervals this morning (Sunday), and she felt fantastic,” says Stian.
Last time out, Maharasha returned to the winner’s circle after a razor-sharp finish at Bjerke.
“She was really good last time. The race was run at a slow pace up front, but she finished incredibly well over the last 500 meters and beat some very good horses. That was very encouraging, and it feels like she’s better than ever right now.”
Tough draw here with post twelve, of course, but she still has to be considered a winning candidate?
“She’s incredibly sharp off the pace, but of course, with post twelve, you’re always dependent on how the race develops and if there's a high pace up front. We knew we’d get a bad post when we entered her, but even so, she’s definitely a winning candidate — although it’s always tough to predict from such a post position.”
We also have to ask about the star of the stable, Daim Brodda. How is she doing at the moment?
“She was checked out after her last start at Bjerke and needed to get treated. After that, she’s just trained lightly once, but she’ll start some tougher training this week, and she looks very good. The plan is to try and get her ready for Jarlsberg and the Ulf Thoresen Grand International,” concludes Stian Hallenstvedt.