the Face often cracks up in big smiles during our conversation. Emilia Leo is a happy and positive 26-year-old, but she still believe that there are some who may think that she is a ”surpuppa”.
“I’m so competitive that I get during a race day at the racetrack goes into myself so much that I sometimes don’t notice that people greet me,” says Emilia, and laughs again.
Last year, she had many reasons to be happy. She is still an apprentice, but was first across the finish line in 84 horse races, both behind the sulky, and as montéryttare. (Monté is trotting with the rider instead of the stroller.) A segerprocent on the 15. And of the total of 546 starter she did, in 2018, she was the first, second, or third, 198 times and drove in 5.5 million sek to hästägarna.
Emilia was in line with the country’s established toppkuskar and won including three V75-wins with one of their two egentränade horses, Sign me up too.
when she at Hästgalan (arranged by ATG, the Swedish horse racing and Swedish Travsportjournalisters club) on February 10 won the award, ”this Year’s comet” in competition with three other nominees. Emilia got 80 per cent of the votes.
” I had a little bit of the feeling that I would win, it has gone so well for me in the past year. It is great fun after several years then it’s not gone so well, ” she says.
I love horses, I am really horse-loving.
She has been with horse racing since she was 15 years old, when she took montélicens. Two years later acquired, she also sulkylicens on Wångens travgymnasium in Jämtland.
“I’m from Borlänge in Dalarna and I saw my first horse races on the Rommetravet,” says Emilia.
There were horses in the family, grandmother and grandfather bred race horses on a small scale and mother red when Emilia was little. During a short period, it lasted for only a few weeks, she went naturprogrammet in high school and had thoughts of becoming a veterinarian.
” But I felt quickly that it would be too much of studying. Then it became Wången, sweden where I also had applied for and received.
she and her partner, Oskar Kylin Blom, who last year became the proffstränare and has over 50 horses on their träningslista. My first thought is that he and Emilia share responsibility in the stables, but it turns out to be wrong.
– We do not always have the same views on how horses should be trained, so we are a bit at loggerheads sometimes. I think I have been with for so long now that I want to do a workout after my own head, so today we have two different movements, one can say, although, of course, we discuss and help each other.
Despite Wången, sweden and several periods of different travtränare in Sweden and the USA, plus the past year’s successes, hesitate Emilia Leo to take the step to becoming proffstränare.
” I still want to run the race to the other coaches. If I become the professionals with responsibility for a private stall, there is a risk that I do not receive as many requests. I await the enough until it feels right to take the last step. My pipe dream is that in the future have a smaller number of horses in training and continue to run other people’s horses that day, says Emilia.
if the ”possenten”, as the artist Sven Melander (for a large traventusiast) joked about in the 80’s. In Emilia’s case, it is about segerprocenten. She has become a name in the trotting-Sweden and want to continue to have a large proportion of complicated. And she has launched in 2019 on the same level as in 2018.
– It will be difficult this year, the rules are a bit strange. I am now locked out of certain types of races because it has been too good for me. I probably have to fight more now to maintain my segerprocent.
” I love horses, I am really horse-loving. I would keep on with the horses on the side, even if I had a regular job. And so I like to compete, of course.
” I can’t choose, both are fun and different. In sulkylopp you need to take very quick decisions and there is greater risk of being trapped there. Montéloppen is more physically demanding, in the beginning, I didn’t think I would be able to reach your goal. A small dream is to ride the horse races in France, monténs country, ” says Emilia Leo.
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