Trainer Jonas Czernyson doesn’t know if he or his former boss Per Eriksson will have more butterflies during Saturday’s Hambletonian. They are partners on Symphonic Hanover
, an elimination heat winner trained by Czernyson.
“I’d say it’s a dead-heat which one of us is more nervous,” said Czernyson, who admitted he’s been doing some sleep walking and sleep talking in recent days. The 36-year-old Swedish-born trainer served as an assistant to his fellow Swede Eriksson for many years before going out on his own nine years ago.
“A lot of good things from Per rubbed off on me,” says Czernyson, “but some of the bad rubbed off, too. Per always got nervous before a big race and now I’m that way, too.”
For the second consecutive year, Czernyson will have a pair of starters in the Hambletonian. On Saturday he sends out Hot Shot Blue Chip as well as Symphonic Hanover. Last year, his Hambo starters were Atomic Hall and Pine After Pine.
This achievement is a remarkable testimony to Czernyson’s ability to train trotters since he has a relatively small stable, but he still cannot match the accomplishments of his former boss Eriksson.
Eriksson’s record of training three Hambletonian winners before his 32nd birthday may never be matched. Czernyson is hoping for his first score in America’s greatest trotting classic, although he trained the 2005 Hambletonian Oaks winner Jalopy.
“It’s great having Per around,” says Czernyson. “He’s helped me a lot, but many times he makes a suggestion and then tells me that I should do whatever I think is best. But I’d be crazy not to listen to him because the guy won three Hambletonians.”
When Czernyson came to America, he began as an assistant to Ohioan Don Swick, who quickly saw that the young Swede came with a work ethic seldom seen around American tracks.
“I finally had to tell Jonas that Lincoln freed the slaves more than a hundred years ago,” quipped Swick.
Swick trains a small private stable and realized that Czernyson could benefit by joining a larger stable with more horses, so Swick recommended him to his friend Per Eriksson.
Eriksson, 48, came to America in his early twenties to apprentice under legendary Swedish horseman Soren Nordin, but quickly established his own reputation when he trained the problem-plagued Prakas to a Hambletonian victory in 1985 at age 24.
Success breeds success in horse racing, and that meant that Eriksson was soon getting many well-bred youngsters in his stable. He didn’t let his success, however, affect his own strong work ethic.
“The best thing I can say about Per is that he doesn’t even own a set of golf clubs,” said Hans Enggren, primary owner of Prakas, in reference to the belief that some trainers spend too much time on the links.
Hard work paid off for Eriksson with a steady stream of stakes winners, including Hambletonian winners Giant Victory in 1991 and Alf Palema in 1992. In 2000, the Eriksson-trained Credit Winner finished second in the Hambletonian and later won the Kentucky Futurity. (Credit Winner is the sire of two finalists---Calchips Brute and Judge Joe---in Saturday’s Hambletonian.)
After the 2000 season, Eriksson decided to take his growing family back to his native Sweden to give his children stability and to begin racing in his homeland.
In 2007, he and Czernyson spotted a yearling colt named Symphonic Hanover that they liked and purchased him at auction with some partners. The lightly-raced colt went off at 16-1 odds in his Hambletonian elimination heat and sprinted away to a three-length win in 1:54.1 for driver David Miller.
Symphonic Hanover - Hambletonian Elim #2
“Symphonic Hanover showed that he has the ability to come from behind in this Hambo elimination,” says Czernyson. “He’s got a strong kick in the stretch. Around the barn, he doesn’t always seem like a happy horse. He wants things his way and acts a bit temperamental, but he’s okay on the track.”
He compared Hot Shot Blue Chip to “a little boy.”
“You have to force him to do his work,” says his trainer. “He’s got high speed and you can drive him with two fingers, but his mind isn’t always on his work.”
Czernyson says he can’t separate his two Hambo hopefuls in ability and hopes that one of them will find his way to the winner’s circle on Saturday.
But it’s unlikely that either Czernyson or Eriksson will find the courage to watch the race.
“I get so nervous that I hide down under the grandstand at the back of the paddock,” admits Czernyson. “On Saturday, I’ll probably have to fight Eriksson for that spot.”
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click here.
(Dean Hoffman for the Hambletonian Society)
He should have been nervous
He should have been nervous of the outcome of the elimination. His horses sulky went inside of at least 2 pylons in the first turn. Isn't this a rule violation?