Northern Finland’s enduring success Kari Alapekkala has done exceptionally well since the beginning of the year. With ten wins, the coach from Torni is tied for fifth place in the riders’ league.
Kari Alapekkala was awarded a year ago after he reached the thousand win mark. Photo by Mia Mäki-Maunus / Suomen Hippos
A native of Tornio Kari Alapekkala has driven 10 wins since the beginning of the year. There are only 20 starts for this year, so the winning percentage for the 2023 season is exactly 50. In the national driving league, Alapekkala shares fifth place with 76 starts in Sunday’s situation Tapio Perttunen with.
The above is only the top group of loan advisors Hannu Torvinen, Santtu Raitala, Ari Moilanen and Antti Teivainenall of which have multiple starts compared to Alapekkala.
With a small number of starts, the ranking in the statistics will of course drop in the future, but in any case, the year has started fantastically for Alapekkala. At the beginning of the year, the statistics of their own trainees are even tougher than their hosts, as the horses of the Alapekkala stable have run seven races and won four times.
Alapekkala, 56, states that success feels good, but considers the importance of the instructor’s or coach’s own mood to be minor.
– Maybe even at this age it still helps a little, when there are wins and you gain more self-confidence, but it’s always up to the horse. Everyone who has done trotting knows that this is an instrumental sport after all, emphasizes Kari Alapekkala.
Kari Alapekkala is a long-term successful man in northern Finland. He has spent his entire professional career at home in Tornio.
– Sometimes there have been inquiries elsewhere, especially Sweden has been asked once, but it has not been possible to go. I’ve stayed here, and I’ll probably stay until the end of my career.
Alapekkala runs a small but capable stable a few kilometers from the Tornio race track.
– There are eight horses now, and the most there have been twelve horses while at home. At one time, I ran a stable at the Tornio track, and at that time there were twenty people to train. A smaller amount has seemed appropriate.
Back problems slow you down
Kari Alapekkala’s latest victory came on Saturday in Oulu with the horse A Kind Of Magid. The trainer of the horse that brought the valuable T75 victory is Tapio Kalaja. Mia Mäki-Maunus / Finnish Hippos
The number of horses is also limited due to Alapekkala’s own health. He has been suffering from various back problems for a long time.
– The first time my back traveled was probably 15 years ago. A few years ago, it got really bad, when I traveled a lot more driving as a loan driver in races, and I had to sit in the car a lot. Now that I rotate less, my back is also much better.
Going around racing more actively meant that, in practice, there was still an impact in Finland at that time Mika Haapakkan too controlling horses. Alapekkala was currently the No. 1 driver in Finland for Haapakanka, who runs a large team in Sweden, for a few years.
– Back then, we went around everywhere Mika entered his horses, but now I compete in a pretty small area. In Northern Finland and Boden in Sweden, Alapekkala states.
Last year, Kari Alapekkala reached a handsome milestone, when he crossed the 1,000-win mark in his career just over a year ago. Alapekkala is the northernmost player in his career who has won his thousandth club in Finland.
– It was hard and felt really good. A thousand wins is the best achievement in my career.