Finnish horseman Antti Ruokonen is excited about stepping out of the background to chase more feature glory of his own at Wagga on Saturday night.
Ruokonen, 33, grew up in Finland and worked in top Sweden where trotting is huge before a fascination with Australia saw him travel here about six years ago and ultimately take a job with Pat Driscoll’s giant racing and breeder empire of Yabby Dams.
After two years at Yabby Dams, Ruokonen moved to a key role with the growing Lee and Craven clan near Terang. With the stable’s increased focus on trotters, Ruokonen’s background, experience and skill set was ideal.
“I came here (Australia) for a holiday because it looked like a great place and I wanted to travel,” he said. “Then I fell in love with the country and the people.”
Trainer Paddy Lee said Ruokonen continued to play a huge role in the success of the stable.
“He takes on a leadership role in giving us ideas to help us perform at the very best,” he said. “Not only is he a very astute trainer himself, and all credit goes to him for that, but he has learnt a lot from the best trainers all over the world and incorporated that into his own training.”
Ruokonen said his three years with Team Lee/Craven had been amazing.
“It’s been exciting to be part of the growth of the team,” he said. “How lucky I’ve been to be here from the start with Keayang Zahara. She’s something else.
“I saw some great trotters back home (Sweden) and since I’ve been here. I’m 100 per cent sure, she is world class. She could go anywhere in the world and compete well.”
While most of his time has been spent working with the Lee/Craven horses, the clan has supported Ruokonen working a few horses of his own.
And what a small but successful side venture that’s been with a 28 per cent winning strike rate.
Ruokonen has trained 22 winners, including three feature races wins and two at Group 1 level with Keayang Kukri in the 2YO Vicbred final and last year’s 3YO Breeders Crown trotting fillies’ final.
His other major win came with Jilliby Aura in last year’s $75,000 Nutrien Sales Classic final for two-year-old trotting fillies.
Jilliby Aura, $1.60 favourite in the $125,000 3YO fillies’ finals, is one of three runners Ruokonen has across three different Nutrien finals at Wagga on Saturday night.
The others are $2.30 favourite Bumper Crop, who is unbeaten in two starts, in the $75,000 2YO fillies’ final and $12 chance Corporate Affairs in the $75,000 2YO colts and geldings final.
“It’s pretty cool stuff to have a small team and three of them in big finals like this,” Ruokonen said. “I only work five or six horses of my own.”
Although Jilliby Aura is Ruokonen’s most favoured runner, he talked most about Bumper Crop.
“It’s hard to say how good she (Bumper Crop) is,” he said. “She’s untapped and I haven’t screwed her down yet, but I’m sure she’ll be hard to beat again this week.”
Jilliby Aura cost herself by making a mistake and galloping in the Nutrien series prelude at Wagga last Tuesday.
“I’m sure she’s the best filly in the final, but she’ll need to do everything right,” Ruokonen said. “She didn’t handle the track in the prelude, but I’ve changed a few things and hope she’ll be a lot better this time.
“My other runner (Corporate Affairs) is closely related to Keayang Zahara, but still a work in progress and will be better with time. I’m turning him out for a break after this race.”
