Meadowlands: Mr Picolit ready for U.S. debut

Sebastian K does not make his 2015 racing debut for another 11 days, but trainer Ake Svanstedt has another Swedish-born stakes-winner ready to go Friday at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Mr Picolit, an 8-year-old male trotter who won the 2013 Copenhagen Cup, gets his first start in North America on Friday when he faces five rivals in the third round of the TVG Free For All Series for older trotters at the Big M. He will start from post six with Svanstedt at the lines.

The remainder of the field, in post order, is DW’s NY Yank, Melady’s Monet, Master Of Law, Obrigado, and Flanagan Memory.

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Mr Picolit, who is owned by Hans Gunnar Heed’s Stall Musse Inc. and has earned $533,949 (U.S.) in his career, prepped for his debut with a third-place finish in a qualifier on June 6 at the Meadowlands. He was timed in 1:55.

He is a son of 2001 Hambletonian winner Scarlet Knight, out of the mare Good Enough. Mr Picolit will become only the second Scarlet Knight-sired horse to ever race in North America, joining mare Oblige As, who won two of five starts in Canada in 2010.

“He feels good,” Svanstedt said on Tuesday about Mr Picolit. “I think he can do a good race. I think he can race fast.”

In Europe, Svanstedt said, Mr Picolit was best at distances greater than one mile, particularly 1-1/4 miles, which was the distance of the Copenhagen Cup. Svanstedt drove and trained Mr Picolit prior to moving his family and stable to the U.S. in the winter of 2013.

“In Sweden he did the best races at one mile and a quarter,” Svanstedt said. “But he’s fast too. If they go fast the whole race, it’s good for him because he’s a strong horse. In Sweden they go fast the first quarter, then (ease) up, and then go fast the last quarter. So at a mile, it was sometimes too fast for him in the last quarter.”

Svanstedt hopes Mr Picolit has the ability to compete with the top trotters in North America, including his stablemate Sebastian K.

“We’ll see on Friday,” Svanstedt said. “He feels good when I train him so I hope he’s going to do a good race. I’m excited.”

Last year, Sebastian K won eight of 13 races and earned $663,853 on his way to receiving the Dan Patch Award for best older male trotter. He trotted the fastest mile in history when he won in 1:49 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, which is where he will make his seasonal debut on July 4.

“He feels good; he feels even better than last year,” Svanstedt said. “It is so nice to drive him. Everything he does is so easy.”

For more about Svanstedt and his second year of racing in the U.S., check out Hoof Beats magazine’s July issue feature here.

-Courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, please visit www.ustrotting.com