The favorites of the weekend’s kingship competition are first-time Parvelan Retu and two-time king Evartti. If Parvelan Retu doesn’t make his task impossible himself, it will probably be crowned trotting king. Otherwise, Evart’s reign will continue.
Petri Laine has entrusted the reins of Parvelan Retu in competitions to Hannu Torvise, one of Finland’s top guides. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos
Favorites
Parvelan Retu manages to amaze from start to start. Although the level at the top of Finnish horses is tough, Parvelan Retu is still like from a different planet. In recent weeks, Retu has won the Suur-Hollola-Ajo and the Grand Championship, although he shot at the beginning and gave the others a fair handicap.
The King’s Race has three starts in two days, and the race is different from all other races. Parvelan’s Retu is a first-time competitor, and for such people the whole is always a question mark. Even though Parvelan Retu is a completely exceptional horse, the new one is new for it too. Parvelan Retu’s coach Petri Laine and instructor Hannu Torvinen are iron professionals, but all the pressures of the weekend pile up on their shoulders.
If Parvelan Retu succeeds in all three sections, running does not win it. However, the tendency of a horse with superior abilities to fail leaves room for others as well. It can be a tight spot at least in the first meters of the mile, when many starting rockets leave from outside Parvelan Retu.
Evartti has won the trotting kingship in the last two years, but now it enters the race in the role of a challenger. Siiri Haapalainen / Finnish Hippos
Evartti is a two-time trotting king and Parvelan Retu’s clear number one challenger. Evart’s strengths are reliability of performance, routine and top condition. At Midsummer, Evartti washed all the cold-blooded best in Nordic King and it has also been excellent in the Suur-Hollola-Ajo and the Grand Championship, although it has not been able to do anything to Parvelan’s Retu.
Santtu Raitala does punctual work with Evart’s stroller and is a coach Antti Ojanperä knows for sure how to perfect Evart’s top condition. As a two-time trotting king, Evartti has shown that he can handle the kingship race perfectly and is firmly in at least second place in the race.
Parvelan Retu is owned by Lakos Team Oy, which has three owners. At Mikkeli’s winning ceremonies with Retu were coach-co-owner Petri Laine and co-owner Ismo Koskinen. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos
Challengers
Vixeli is the biggest threat to the favorites in terms of the overall competition. A year ago, Vixeli won by far the marathon that was run as the final distance of the King’s Race. Without the mile start, Vixeli would have been stuck in the kingdom.
Uncertainty remains Vixel’s pet peeve. With it, you can’t jump without fear at the start or at the end, and compared to the toughest competitors, due to its insufficient starting speed, it invariably gets heavy trips.
In the summer competitions, Vixeli has not yet been perhaps as brilliant as a year ago, but peak condition is not far away, and Tapio Perttunen know how to succeed in Kunikuusravei. The long distance should be Vixel’s strength, and if it trots all the distances, Vixel will be fighting hard for a place in the top three in the overall competition.
HV Tuuri and Välkyn Tuisku, who live on their speed, will also enter the challenger section. HV Tuuri was last year’s comet, who struggled after the first two legs with Evart for the kingship. In the marathon, HV Tuuri’s toughness was enough for sixth place and in the overall race it was second.
This year, HV Tuuri has only competed three times. In Suur-Hollola it was fifth and in the Suurmestaru an excellent second, only losing to Parvela Retu, so the condition is on the rise. HV Tuuri can certainly succeed in at least the first two legs, especially since it had good luck in the lottery. However, winning the overall competition would be quite a bomb.
Välkyn Tuisku is 15 years old, so its right to compete ends at the end of this year. The stallion is in great condition, although the finish in the Grand Championship was ruined because of the starting gallop. Välkyn Tuisku has previously finished the king’s competition perfectly, three years ago it was second in the overall competition and third last year.
Kujanpää’s Jyräys, Rokin Maksi, Sheikki and Veeran Poika will be able to be close to the top in some section, but the favorite five will share the best parts in the overall competition.