The victory of the trotting classic race went to a new face

Kriterium for Finnish horses, which was run in Tampere’s Teivo on Saturday, was shown by Heikki Hoffren from Kihniö and his horse Lipassi.

The opponents did not have time to match Lipass in the final meters. The winning time was 27.1a. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos

  • Kriterium is the largest age group competition for young Finnish horses.
  • This year, the victory of the race went less often to a trotting athlete who basked in the limelight.
  • In the warm-blooded competition, the best pieces were taken by a familiar character.

Nowadays, the wins in classic trotting competitions usually go to professional trainers and trainers, but the Kriterium for Finnish horses kicked a wedge in this trend. A Kihniö resident who guided among the professional drivers Heikki Hoffren guided Lipass, whom he coached himself, to a certain victory. The first prize of the competition was 46,000 euros.

Heikki Hoffren, 45, is not a regular face at victory ceremonies, as he has only made 142 starts in his career. However, the biggest age group competition of Finnish horses was under the command of Hoffren and his stallion.

According to Hoffren, the low routine did not show as excitement.

– I convinced myself that this is no different race than the other starts. You have to be a bit like a Jurmu man, i.e. try not to care about the big race and program yourself that it’s just an ordinary start, Hoffren describes.

– In a certain way, I was quite confident when the horse was his good self before the race. In my heart, I knew that this would work out, even though I’m so superstitious that I didn’t want to be excited about it beforehand.

Lipassi has been one of the top crabs in its age group since the beginning. It has run 11 starts and won eight times. Three times Lipassi has started, and it has won all its starts without a start. Lipassi’s career winnings are now 78,000 euros.

Heikki Hoffren owns the horse together with his spouse Riitta Hoffrenin with. They acquired it as a summer foal breeder From Esko Härkälä. In the same shop, the Hoffrens also bought a Väiskin Pass of the same age, which has also been quite successful.

– It’s this disease. When you can’t choose, you buy both, Heikki Hoffren laughs when he remembers the horse shop.

Poor, but rich

The victory in the criterium is by far the greatest achievement of Heikki Hoffren’s career. In total, Hoffren has now driven 23 victories. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos

Although Heikki Hoffren is not a well-known long-term success on racetracks, he is not a completely new face in success circles. Twenty years ago, Hoffren had Daytona Demon, which was very successful in warm-blooded age group competitions, and won a couple of title starts.

In the past, the Hoffrenes had both Finnish horses and warmbloods, but now the entire horse guard is Finnish horses.

– The Finnish horse is a poor man’s choice. If warm-blooded people can fight at the top, it’s a lottery game. You can’t buy horses of that kind, what you have to compete against at the top there. I can’t do this job if it costs money. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but I can’t be the paymaster for the food business.

Hoffren describes horse activities as a hobby, but also states that he is practically a full-time horseman. There are currently four driving horses.

– The hostess is at work elsewhere and I am at home. A poor life, but rich in the way that you can do a little of the work you want, Hoffren formulates.

– We used to have cattle farming, but in these days it was such and such a job. It wasn’t worth it when you were spinning around the same loan.

There were no horses in Heikki Hoffren’s childhood home, but his uncle did, and his relatives’ horses got Hoffren excited about the field. The success has come clearly more than the average hobbyist.

– I want the horse to have a good character. Even if it is difficult at first, it must eventually be such that you can drive with two fingers. The horse has to serve well, but it is not put in any specific program, but the training is modified according to the horse, Heikki Hoffren describes his methods.

According to Hoffren, guiding his own horses in competitions is not an obsession for him, but he has ended up riding Lipass himself after thinking about it for a long time.

– When you have done the work with the horse yourself, you easily turn to racing yourself. If you start promoting someone else’s career with your own work, it can lead to bad experiences. You have to go on the horse’s terms in order to get a longer-term horse, and that’s why I’ve ended up riding myself.

Next year for breeding

Lipassi and Heikki Hoffren will probably continue to win big in Satakunta-Ajo. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos

Lipassi was finally in a class of his own in the Kriterium final. The stallion led the race from start to finish and won without trying his best. The race was colored by the gallops of several opponents, which of course did not dim the value of Lipassi’s performance.

– I don’t want to boast, but Lipassi won quite easily, Heikki Hoffre’s sum.

The grand winner’s season may still continue in Satakunta-Ajo in Pori. Next year, in addition to competing, Lipassi also has other kinds of pressures ahead of him.

– If everything goes well, I would like to use it for breeding as early as next year. Let’s hope that the stallion will get a good chance in breeding as soon as he is young, Heikki Hoffren points out.

Warm-blooded Kriterium, like the race for Finnish horses, went as the number one favorite. Pekka Korven Guided and coached by Corazon Combo, he was the expected first place in the competition and received the prize money of 90,000 euros.

ttn-50