Only 23-year-old Veikko Haapakangas is gaining a foothold as a trotting trainer in Sweden.
Born in 2000, Veikko Haapakangas is one of Sweden’s youngest professional coaches. Ville Toivonen
- Veikko Haapakangas started as the head coach of a large Swedish team last summer.
- At the beginning of the year, the stable’s horses have been very successful.
- In the future, the goals will always be higher.
Among the successes of the beginning of the Swedish trotting year is a coach of Finnish origin Veikko Haapakangas.
Haapakangas, 23, from Kalajoki, started last summer as a private trainer for the Swedish major stable Stall Denco, and lately the results have been nice. The stable’s 59 starts at the beginning of the year have already produced nine wins, with a winning percentage of 15.
Last year, those coached by Veikko Haapakanka had time to run 111 starts, winning six of them.
– It’s a really good feeling when the horses have gone comfortably. Of course, it feels good when hard work is rewarded, Haapakangas describes.
Haapakangas took over as Stall Denco’s coach last summer. The stable and the horses were already familiar to him, because before becoming a responsible trainer, he worked at Denko as an assistant trainer for his father Mika Haapakkan too being the responsible coach.
According to Haapakanka, the change of responsible coach from father to son can be seen in many things.
– We train in a completely different way than before and almost everything else has also changed. The body of the whole thing has been changed and, for example, we now train much more in soft sand than before, he says.
New horses
One significant factor is also the change of horses. Stall Denco has recently sold many of its previous horses and bought new ones at the same time. There are currently 45 horses on Haapakanka’s training list.
– The intention is to keep that process going all the time. The competition is tough, and the horse material must also be good if you want to succeed. The boss has now also been very enthusiastic about acquiring horses, says Haapakangas.
The boss he mentioned is the owner of Stall Denco, a successful entrepreneur Berndt Denbergerwho has long been one of Sweden’s prominent horse oracles.
– The boss has said that now things are starting to be in the same condition as in the past. Denco has been at the top before, and the goal is to be there in the future. At least the conditions are there, because we have a good and hungry team. I have a really strong thirst for the top.
Top driver guy
Haapakangas has lived in Sweden since his teenage years. After completing elementary school in Finland, he moved to Sweden with his trainer father, who had moved to Umeå, Sweden, a little earlier, where he attended the famous horse school in Wången.
– I learned a lot from Wången and made a lot of valuable contacts, Haapakangas praises.
One of those contacts is Sweden’s current number one coach Magnus Djusewho was Haapakanka’s classmate in Wången.
– We lived in rooms next to each other for two years, and Magnus is still one of my best friends. We have a lot to do, and it’s been great to see the boy rise to the top. You could see from Magnus the second he took the reins that the guy is exceptional, says Haapakangas.
The Haapakanka family played a significant role in the beginning of Djuse’s directing career. For example, Djuse took his first V75 victory in a Special Major coached by Mika Haapakanka.
– Magnus has laughed that the next task is to raise me to the same level as a coach, but let’s move forward humbly. It is not easy to rise to the top as an instructor, but perhaps it is even more difficult as a coach. And it’s worth remembering that both Magnus and I are only 23 years old, emphasizes Veikko Haapakangas.
In any case, it is clear that Haapakanka’s goals are at the top of the trotting world.
– The desire is high and today’s horses have a lot of potential, but it is better to blow inwards and let the horses and the results speak for themselves. However, the goal is for Denco to be as high as possible in the owner statistics.
In Swedish raves, the competition is extremely tough, and as summer approaches, the level gets tougher week by week. However, Haapakangas is not worried that the team’s success rate should slow down as the year progresses.
– We have had the five best horses still in winter training, and we are just starting to see the first starts for this year. An incredibly interesting season is ahead. At least I hope so.