It’s four weeks until the royal tour, and the summer season is showing its last signs. Lakan Leija, who finished second last year, is one of the toughest.
Lakan Leija is the number one guard of Finnish horse mares. Santtu Raitala is the mare’s regular driver. Ida Laine, Finnish Hippos
From Lapua Mikko Tuomaalan owned and Erkki Tuomaalan coached by Lakan Leija has been among the elite of Finnish horse mares for a few years now. It has participated in the queen competition for the past three years, and the success has been better every year.
Three years ago Lakan Leija was fifth in the overall race, two years ago third and a year ago in Forssa second only to trotting queen For Summer Samet lost. In the main races of Kunikuustrot, three sub-distances are run during the same weekend, and the best is decided by the combined time of the three races. Lakan Leija lost to Suven Samet last year extremely narrowly, i.e. by 0.1 seconds in the overall race.
Santtu Raitalan rider Lakan Leija lost the queen’s title in the acceleration of the 3100 meter part of the race, where Lakan Leija took the gallop. Although the gallop was not very long, Lakan Leija still fell on the tail of the main group and its running flow became clearly heavier than it would have been without the gallop. Lakan Leija’s gallop was rare, as almost two years had passed since the mare’s last gallop in competition.
Fitness at its peak
The timing of Lakan Leija’s condition has been successful in recent years, and it seems that will be the case this year as well. On Sunday in Jämsä, the penultimate start of the Finnish mares’ Towards the King races was held, where the top mares collected points that entitle them to the queen competition. Lakan Leija was the clear winner of the race, taking his first win of the season.
So the condition is at its peak when there are four weeks to the Kouvola queen competition. Director Santtu Raitala hummed his satisfaction with Lakan Leija’s performance in Jämsä’s winner’s interview.
– Leija has had half-legs drawn a few times this year, and when they were drawn in the middle of the final straight, the horse definitely decided the game in his favor. It is sweet to leave for Kouvola. “Leija has usually found his condition around this time and then kept it until the end,” Raitala stated.
The favorite that was in the bow Virin Varpu was second. If there are no setbacks in the last meters, Virin Varpu’s owner-coach Juhani Heikkinen will make royalty trotting history in Kouvola by being the oldest trainer ever to participate in the royalty series. Heikkinen is 83 years old.