The coaches of Antti Ojanperä have been on the sidelines for the last few months. The solution has been made deliberately, and with the arrival of spring, the horses of the success coach should be expected not only on the tracks, but also for the winning ceremonies.
Antti Ojanperä (left) runs a restaurant in Pihtiputa together with his wife Jutta Ihalainen. Between the couple, the stable Ykköskuski Santtu Raitala. Juho Hämäläinen / Hippos of Finland
- Exceptionally, Antti Ojanperä has calmed his stable almost completely from racing in the winter.
- Ojanperä, who was chosen as the coach of the year in 2018, is one of the toughest nutritionists in recent years.
- There are as many as three trotting kings in his stable.
In horse racing, the high season is in the summer and early fall, but the race is run every day of the year except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. When there are no competition breaks on the calendar, the daily life of large coaching staff, in particular, usually runs almost the same all year round.
However, Antti Ojanperä, one of Finland’s top coaches, has taken a different approach to the competition year in recent years.
Ojanperä, who keeps his team in Pihtiputa, has calmed the winter months almost completely for coaching. This winter, the race season of the Ojanperä team practically ended with a race in Oulu on December 9th.
Since then, the team’s nearly 40 horses have run a total of eight starts. The only more regularly competed horse in the stable is the derby winner a few years ago Mr. Haymanwho have run four teams from six starts this year.
Although there are a lot of horses in the stable, the decision to calm down the winter for training has been easy, according to Ojanperä.
– The aim is in the summer season, and there weren’t many horses here that would have made sense to race now. The owners have taken a positive view of the matter, and the solution has been absolutely right, Antti Ojanperä describes.
According to Ojanperä, the winter in the stable has been exemplary. The stables of the stable are scheduled to start appearing more frequently on the racetracks in the coming weeks.
– The weather has been great and many things have been done as desired. I’m pretty excited and the whole team of the stable is looking forward to coming through with interest.
Ojanperä reminds that the training break affects not only the horses, but also the people.
– There is a lot of work going on all the time, but it does save itself and the workers when you don’t go around all the time. Let’s focus on the essentials and at the same time recharge the batteries ourselves.
The stars determine the level
In recent years, Antti Ojanperä has consolidated his position in the top ranks of Finnish coaching coaches.
Last year, the team’s horses ran 74 wins and earned a record 593,265 euros. In the last four years, the stables in the stable have run more than half a million euros a season.
Ojanperä says that he is expecting a good season again, but reminds him that the success of the Star Horses year means a lot in the team’s winning year. Last year, Suur-Hollola-Ajo won Mas Champ and the king of healing Evartti earned a total of 290,270 euros, or almost half of the team’s profit.
– The result for the year will be greatly affected by how successful they are this year and, of course, whether new stars will rise alongside them. There are a lot of horses in the stable that I expect to have a good time with, but only time will tell if, for example, the age group competitions will be a success, Ojanperä reminds.
The story continues after the picture.
Evart’s second consecutive trotting kingdom was the highlight of last year’s Ojanperä stable. Ida Laine / Finnish Hippos
Coach of the Three Kings
Antti Ojanperä’s equipment is historic, as there are as many as three trotting kings in his stable. Ojanperä has coached himself Riverside Kunkun became king of trotting in 2015 and Evart in the last two years. Vitter again ran king in 2016 Jalmari Svartin coached, but the stallion has since moved to Ojanperä’s strength.
– Evartti and Jokivarren Kunkku are quite close to the starting condition, they have both driven 1.33 at home. Both will probably come to the start at the turn of the month, the coach assumes.
Last year was dramatic for Evart, as the stallion underwent a major sudden surgery a good year ago, from which it miraculously recovered to win its second consecutive trotting kingdom. Now Evart’s winter has been more peaceful.
– It may be even worse this year, but there seems to be no obstacle why it could not be even better than last year. The winter has gone well, and hopefully it will bear fruit in the summer, Ojanperä tastes good.
Vitter has been in the Ojanperä stable for almost three years, but it has only been able to compete with them twice. The previous intact competition season for Vitter, which suffered from various foot problems even before coming to Ojanpera, is from its royal year 2016.
– It was still undergoing a leg operation at the end of the year, and there have been no miracles since then. Time in peace is gone and it is not yet about to start. There have been so many problems along the way that you can’t rush with Vitter.