“Maybe he’ll get a kick out of it being over here. It seems like he thinks it’s fun so far. He’s eight years old now, but every time we go out to train or jog him, he acts very young. He really loves to do his work."
Eight-year-old Swedish trotter Perfectly Enough arrived in trainer Marcus Melander’s New Jersey stable in early January with the hopes of competing this year against the best older trotters in North America. A return trip home in May, however, would be perfectly OK with his connections.
Perfectly Enough, who won the Swedish Breeders Crown at age three and has earned 3.08 million Swedish Krona ($453,219 U.S.) during his career, was among 15 horses nominated to the inaugural Elitlopp Playoff at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The winner of the May 8 event will receive an automatic invitation to compete in the world-renowned Elitlopp at Sweden’s Solvalla Raceway on May 29.
“The owner’s dream is to be in the Elitlopp,” Melander said, referring to Lars Enochson. “He would race there in that case. But it’s one step at a time. There are many good horses in (the Elitlopp Playoff). He’s in there, but we need to see if he’s good enough to race. We’re not going to race there just to be in the race.”
Unraced at age two, Perfectly Enough won 8 of 37 races and hit the board a total of 20 times at ages three through five, but was winless in 13 starts the past two years because of knee woes. He last raced July 30, prior to having knee surgery for the second time. He was most recently trained by Bjorn Goop, but also spent time in the stables of Stefan Hultman and Stig H. Johansson.
“So far he feels very good; he feels very sound,” Melander said. “I have another horse for the owner and we talked about (Perfectly Enough) a little bit last summer. After the season last year, after he had surgery, Bjorn thought it was a good idea to try him over here now. The owner was excited to bring him over.”
Perfectly Enough is a son of stallion Express It out of the mare Just About Enough.
Express It is a son of 1987 Peter Haughton Memorial winner Supergill and a three-quarter brother to Express Ride, who won the 1985 Haughton as well as that year’s Breeders Crown.
Just About Enough is a daughter of 1995 Dan Patch Award-winning older male trotter S Js Photo. She is a half-sister to Swedish triple-millionaire Prince Apanage, as well as a half-sister to Enough Is Enough (mother of 2007 Sweden Cup winner and 2009 Elitlopp runner-up Jaded) and Good Enough (mother of 2013 Copenhagen Cup champ Mr Picolit).
In addition to his Swedish Breeders Crown win, Perfectly Enough’s victories include the 2013 Gavle Stora Pris, a Group 2 event, and the 2013 Gotlandslopning, a Group 3 race. He finished third in the 2012 Group 1 Swedish Trotting Derby.
“It’s important that he really likes to do this, otherwise it’s not that easy," said Melander, who is in his second full year of training in the U.S. and has a stable of 21 horses in New Egypt. "Even if they can go, it’s not that easy if they don’t think it’s so fun to race and train. He’s a very happy horse.”
Melander has lightly staked Perfectly Enough, with an eye toward keeping the horse close to home. He hopes the trotter will be ready to qualify in a month.
“I didn’t put him in too much because we don’t really know how good he will be over here,” Melander said. “We just staked him very easy, even though they’re good races. I didn’t want to go too far with him.
“I love to race at the Meadowlands because it’s such a good track. That’s why I want to keep him around here. I think a mile track will be a good fit for him. I hope he is better now with his knees. With a big track, I think it will be good. It will be interesting to see how good he can be.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.