MENHAMMAR VINJETT INTERVIEWVINJETT BY RICHARD JEPPSSON our way Three questions for menhammar MARGARETA Published by Soya Group Editor-in-Chief & Publisher responsible WALLENIUS-KLEBERG under Swedish press law Richard Jeppsson Editorial production ABOUT MENHAMMAR OTW Editors Sofia Lundgren, Pia Adolfsson Jansson STUD FARM Art Director & Layout Karin Löwencrantz How do you see the future for Menhammar a number of fine, domestic stallions at stud, Cover photo Stud Farm? meaning that I am confidently looking Samuel Unéus It looks very positive. In part, because forward to the four major horse auctions On the cover Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg there is a shortage of horses in Sweden and of 2019 – the Elite Sale in May, Kolgini Sale together with Who’s Who also because there is an increased demand in July, the Jubilee Trophy (Wenngarn) for shared ownership of trotters due to the in August and the Kriterie Sale in October. Printer steeply rising cost of keeping a horse in In addition, we privately sell and lease Trydells, Laholm ~ training over recent years. competition rights to a number of mares If you have any comments or questions In the years here at Menhammar we have to satisfied recurrent customers every year. related to Our Way, please email: gathered a large number of offspring. We We also sell some foals and young horses [email protected] ~ have mares that have won over a million privately. We will continue these invest- Copyright texts and images in Our Way may not and we have also secured the services of ments in the future. be republished without permission from the editor or publisher responsible. Are there any new, big goals you would like to achieve? Of course, there are always new major races to be won each year. With Who’s Who’s fantastic victory in the 2018 Derby ABOUT SOYA GROUP still fresh in mind, it would be great to see Soya Group is the collective name for a Menhammar-bred horse win one of the a group of companies active within PHOTO: MARIA MIKKO MARIA PHOTO: Swedish Classics – the Breeders Crown three main business areas: shipping, for 2-year-olds, the Criterium & Oaks for real estate and trotting. The group was 3-year-olds and the Derby, Derbystoet and founded in 1934 and the common Stochampionatet for 4-year-olds. denominator for all companies is that To be Sweden’s most successful trotting- all business shall be carried out with horse breeder for the thirteenth year in a a strong sustainable focus. Today, some row would naturally also be ‘a consumma- 1,200 people work in Soya Group tion devoutly to be wished’. companies in Europe, the US and Asia. What are the most important values for which Menhammar Stud Farm stands? For information about how we That all animals and people that live and handle your personal information, see work at Menhammar thrive and feel secure. https://www.menhammar.com/KONTAKT/ That, as far as possible, our horses will be Dataskyddspolicy/. If you wish to be removed from the Our Way distribution list, please send allowed to be horses and that everyone who an email to [email protected]. works here should know and feel that their specific contribution to the business is of NMÄ enormous importance to the success of NE RK A E V T the whole. S Trycksak MARGARETA WALLENIUS-KLEBERG 3041 0091 A GREEN MAGAZINE This magazine is produced in accordance with the Nordic eco-labelling system, the Swan. 2 OUR WAY MENHAMMAR CONTENTS 10 6 STONER CREEK Tag along to Menhammar’s breeding base in Kentucky 10 12 MAHARAJAH A winner, outside the trotting track as well 12 JACK-IN-THE-BOX Star driver Kihlström about the biggest victories 14 THE TROTTING STARS OF TOMORROW Unique system behind breeding at Menhammar 16 MUCH MORE THAN JUST HORSES Menhammar farm works for the well- being of many species 20 FOR HORSES IN DISTRESS 6 The Horse Ambulance is on call 24/7, all year round 22 16 THE LEGEND BIG NOON The stallion behind Menhammar’s success story 24 THE ROAD TO SUCCESS This is how Pasi Aikio trains Menhammar’s horses 27 WHEN THE ELITE SETTLE THE SCORE The numbers behind Sweden’s biggest 14 trotting event OUR WAY MENHAMMAR 3 AVINJETT MIX ABOUT TROTTING BY PIA ADOLFSSON JANSSON Duty Free (b. 1974) Travkompaniet Liquorish –A hobby that became a vision (b.1982) What is Travkompaniet’s main objective? Which victory do you value most highly? And why? Bourbon Eyes To generate interest in trotting in general and horse Wow, it’s hard to choose one, so I’ll choose three. (b. 1994) ownership in particular. We want to give a sense of • Sprintermästaren with Calvin Capar in 2003 was what it’s like to own a trotter, both in triumph and our first win in a major race. That was crucial to the adversity, and to offer the opportunity to follow horses future of the stable. all the way from beginning of training to competing • Prix d’Amerique 2014 with Maharajah. Whenever in and, hopefully, winning races. I watch the race again I still can’t believe it’s true! • 2018’s Swedish Trotting Derby win with Who’s Who. Roaring How does shared ownership work in practice? Maharajah won it in 2009 and now his son, which Drunk You buy a share in Travkompaniets Stall AB for a one- is a very special feeling. (b. 2010) time payment of SEK 425 and are then a shareholder in the stable’s 16 trotters, which you can then follow via Travkompaniet.se, Facebook, Instagram or our own app. Being a shareholder in Travkompaniet is probably TRAVKOMPANIET the very easiest way to participate in owning a trotter. Travkompaniet was founded in 2001 and has some 7,000 shareholders (2019). It is Sweden’s, and Travkompaniet was founded in 2001. perhaps the world’s, largest horse owner and has What are your plans for the future? more than 375 wins. Prize money is primarily used The future is looking bright; we have a number to cover the company’s costs and to create the con- of interesting young horses with the potential to ditions for long-term investment and purchasing compete in the major 3- and 4-year-old races. The new young horses. The allocation of prize money stable’s biggest star, Who’s Who, is entering his first is a matter for the annual general meeting. The year competing against older, elite horses and it will ambition is to allow as many people as possible be exciting to follow his development. The plan is to to participate in owning well-bred trotters, without continue producing star horses and to be an asset investing and risking big money. For further to Swedish trotting, both on the track and at stud. information, visit www.travkompaniet.se Annika Lindblom, MD of Travkompaniets Stall AB PHOTO: SAMUEL UNÉUS SAMUEL PHOTO: Better than Zlatan THAT’S ONE Menhammar Stud Farm is Sweden’s most successful breeder of warmblood trotters. Between 2007-2018, Menhammar-bred horses MORE YEAR THAN have earned the most prize money and won the Breeders League for 12 straight years. To quote Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg: ZLATAN HAS WON ”That’s one more year than Zlatan has won Golden Balls.” GOLDEN BALLS Year Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Win % Prize money (SEK) 2018 2,834 357 357 308 13% 40,784,611 2017 2,795 323 323 292 12% 33,526,799 2016 3,017 358 358 304 12% 30,523,436 2015 3,029 350 350 276 12% 28,667,719 Source: Swedish Trotting Association 4 OUR WAY MENHAMMAR For many of Menhammar’s horses, it is possible to follow the theme of their name back several generations Duty Free (b. 1974) Liquorish (b.1982) MENHAMMAR PHOTO: Bourbon Eyes Cognac Daiquiri (b. 1994) (b. 1995) (b.1996) Roaring Scotch Under the Table Woozy Anything Drunk Whisky (b. 2013) (b. 2014) Goes (b. 2010) (b. 2011) (b. 2015) Margareta with her Hall of Fame statue at the Harness Racing Museum in Goshen. Better Tomorrow Centi Liter Down the Hatch HALL OF FAME x 2 (b. 2016) (b. 2017) (b. 2018) Årjäng and Goshen In 2017, Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg became the first woman and the first Swede to be inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame. Margareta had already been inducted into the Hall How to name of Fame at the Nordic Trotting Museum in 2013. A TROTTER? “I HOPE THAT I can live up to the expectations that go with If anyone knows how to name a trotter, it’s Margareta Wallenius- being a hall-of-famer. As the first woman to be inducted, I also hope that I can be an inspiration to all of the girls and young Kleberg. After all, she has named each one of Menhammar’s women out there,” said Margareta, who received a standing foals – some 3,000 since 1948. ovation from the guests at the induction ceremony at the Harness Racing Museum in Goshen, New York, in July 2018. very crop of foals receives a name beginning with same letter from IN AN ARTICLE published in Harness A to W. Margareta is currently mak- CLEVER NAMES Racing Update, Dean Hoffman, him- ing her way through the alphabet self an inductee into the Communi- MARE FOAL for the fourth time and 2019’s foals cators Hall of Fame in 2006, wrote have names beginning with E. So • Hot Pants • Undies the following regarding Margareta’s I HOPE far, the greatest challenge was to name 98 foals • Quarantine • Alone induction to the Hall of Fame: I CAN BE AN Ebeginning with the letter.