Hierro Boko is the hottest name on Finnish racetracks. In Saturday’s traditional Kultaloime, it won despite the early jump.
Hierro Boko continued his success on Saturday in Pori. At the Kultaloime ceremonies, owner trainer Hannu Korpi in his red riding suit, next to Hierro Boko’s trainer Jarmo Saarela. Nelli Saari / Finnish Hippos
In recent months, the wind has been blowing from a surprising direction in the first level of Finnish warm-blooded crabs. From Pirkkala Hannu Korven owned and coached by Hierro Boko has mastered the toughest starts of the beginning of the year in a downright confusing way.
From his nine races in the beginning of the season, Hierro Boko has five wins, three second places and one third place. The most recent success is from Pori’s Kultaloime on Saturday, whose win worth 12,000 euros raised Hierro Boko’s earnings this year to 101,080 euros. In his entire career, Hierro Boko has earned slightly less than 300,000 euros.
Now nine-year-old Hierro Boko moved to Finland from his native Sweden last summer. Hierro Boko was already known as a good racehorse, but his emergence into a star like the one seen in Finland has been a big surprise.
– When I bought Hierro Boko, I thought I would get a nice evening horse out of it. I don’t think I bought such a horse, Hannu Korpi himself describes.
Hierro Boko’s previous owner was a colorful trotter Kari Lähdekorpi with his family. First, Hannu Korpi bought the whole horse for his Fire-Tall, then sold half back to Lähdekorve and finally bought the horse again for himself. Last summer, Hierro Boko was very successful in monté, i.e. trotting, but in cart starts, the pace picked up towards the end of the year.
– In the fall, I bought Hierro Boko for good, and then I thought that I must train him sometimes. I started driving it with a brake cart, and pretty soon the horse started to get a new kind of pressure. Since then it has only gotten better and better.
Hierro Boko has also reaped success in monté, i.e. trotting. Last July, the gelding won the Finnish championship of the sport under the guidance of Janita Antti-Roiko. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos
Big competitions await
Under Hannu Korve’s coaching, Hierro Boko has not only earned a reputation in Finland, but the gelding has been popular in Sweden as well. In February, it won the grand race in Bergsåker with a first prize of 500,000 kroner, and in March it was third in the rock-hard gold division final in Solvalla. Also in Solvalla, Hierro Boko would have fought hard for the win from a better starting position, because now his run turned into a very difficult one from a bad starting track.
In Finland, Hierro Boko has been without opposition recently. On Saturday, in Pori’s Kultaloime, the gelding took a rare gallop for it, but without worrying about it, kiri probably won.
– After the gallop, I thought that it has gone well if I get money. The horse has been absolutely brilliant in his last two starts, Hannu Korpi praises.
Next in Hierro Boko’s program is the Seinäjoki Race on April 22, with a first prize of 70,000 euros. After that, the Finlandia race in Vermo is on the major competition calendar on May 7. Hierro Boko has not yet been officially invited to that, but the position of the domestic number one crab at the beginning of the year would seem to be clear.
On Saturday, in Pori’s winner’s interview, Hannu Korpi said that he and Hierro Boko are also aiming for the Elitloppet. The race held in Stockholm’s Solvalla on the last weekend of May is, along with the Prix d’Amerique held in Paris in January, one of the most prestigious classic races in Europe. Finnish horses have rarely been seen in Elitloppet in recent years.
– I know that the Swedes would like a Finnish horse in the race. After Saturday’s win, I appointed Solvalla’s race manager For Anders Malmrot I was wondering if it wouldn’t be here, says Hannu Korpi.
If the Elitloppet organizers don’t fire Hierro Boko, the horse has a couple of possible routes to the race.
– The winner of the Finlandia run is promised a place in the Elitloppet, and in addition, there is a start in Gävle a week before the Elitloppet, and the winner gets a place there. Gävle’s Hierro Boko was already invited, but I told them that we will come directly to Elitloppet if we come.