S P O N S O R E D B Y Horse of the Year Rock N Roll Heaven North America Cup winner Sportswriter Canadian Champions Blue Porsche and Idyllic ampions World Champions Highscore Kemp and Mystic Desire The Consignor of Champions has more in store for you this fall! HUNTERTON SALES AGENCY (859) 987-3983 www.huntertonfarm.com Email: huntertonfarm@cs.com THE EUROPEAN VIEW ~ By Klaus Koch A REAL CHAMPION Birger Jørgensen is the 2009 World Driving Champion who will defend his title at the upcoming 2011 Championship being held in the U.S. later this summer and a better representative would be hard to find. Klaus Koch Photo by Monica Thors There are horsemen well known for their aggressive way of marketing themselves. They love to show up in front of television cameras and in winner s circles. They use big words and show their emotions in winning as well as losing. Then there are horsemen that, in spite of their enormous skills, keep a low profile in their job situation while achieving championships, even World Championships. The 53-year-old Danish trainer-driver Birger Jørgensen is such a horseman. Birger Jørgensen (pronounced Beerwa Yerwensenn) was born on August 5, 1957 on the Danish island Falster, which is situated in the sea between Denmark and northern Germany some 120 miles south of Copenhagen. For a few years as a child his family lived closer to the capital, but at 11 he was back in Nykøbing, where he was born. The family moved in next to the house where harness trainer Arne Elgaard lived. Mr. Elgaard came from Copenhagen to Nykøbing when a new racetrack opened there in 1966. One of his grooms by the name of Arvid Olsen (born 1951) rented a room at his house, and it was Arvid who brought the 11 year-old Birger to the stable area. Later in life Olsen became Jørgensen s last tutor before he started on his own. At 17, after finishing high school, Jørgensen was offered an apprentice job with an electrician company, but on the day he was supposed to begin the company informed him that there was no job for him. Without a job and an expected income, Birger turned to his friends at the racetrack. At that time he wasn t really interested in harness racing, but he needed a job, and the leading trainer Harald Lund had a place for the young man. Lund trained as many as 70 horses, but he never had more than five grooms to take care of the barn, so Birger and his colleagues didn t have to worry about how to spend their time. Harald had two barns. One on the track and one on a nearby farm, Jørgensen recalls. In order to train the horses from the farm, we had to lead them to the track. Normally I used my bicycle and had a horse in each hand. We had to pass a highway with heavy traffic, but I got really skilled doing that. Lund was the national Danish Champion for a number of years in late 60s and early 70s, but Jørgensen never drove while serving as an apprentice for him. When second-trainer Arvid Olsen (mentioned earlier) started up on his own at the same track in 1974, he soon built up quite a big operation, and Jørgensen was offered the job as second-trainer and driver. In 1978 Olsen was badly kicked in the face by a three-year-old, which cost him all his teeth and a few weeks off. It was a bad accident for Arvid, Jørgensen remembers, and I got all responsibility for a while. May/June 2011 The Harness Edge
Photo by Lars Jakobsson "It is of course something special to call yourself a World Champion and I look forward to participate in the championships in New York and New Jersey this summer. The event seems to be very well prepared, which I like, and to race at the Meadowlands, what a thrill! says Birger Jørgensen the defending World Driving Champion of the upcoming World Championships being held this summer in the U.S. The horses were in top shape and while the boss was away, I won more than 30 races. On one occasion I won five during one single card, and that was a lot considering that most race days consisted of eight or maximum nine races. At the same time the racing secretary of Denmark s second most important track, Århus in the western part of the country, had a dilemma. The dominating trainer, Lønborg Nielsen with more than 25 consecutive championships, had enormous influence on the races. Not only did he win every third race he drove, all new trainers starting up were apprentices of his, so the in breed was significant. The race secretary had seen the talent in the shy boy from Falster, and he offered Jørgensen a barn at the track from the beginning of 1980. On November 23, 1979 Jørgensen took his trainer s degree and on New Year s Eve he went to Århus. I had two horses with me, one was my own, the other belonged to a good friend of mine, Jørgensen tells. I knew nobody in Århus, but I was keen to try. The beginning couldn t have been better. On January 1, the 22 year-old newcomer got the drive behind Onkel Ø, a 12 year-old gelding, in the free for all race and won. Being quite shy and not aggressive as a person, that was exactly what I needed, Jørgensen continues. After that I got horses from local owners, and by April 1 I had 16 or17 horses in training. The operation grew to 60 horses after a couple of years. In 1981 he conquered his first driving title. The second was achieved two years later in 1983, and since then he has won all titles at the track except from 1990 to1991, when Lønborg Nielsen s son Henrik was the champion and last year 2010, where Jørgensen s former apprentice Knud Mønster took the title. Being such an excellent pilot, Jørgensen had numerous drives from other trainers. At the same time his younger brother, Johnny, got more and more involved in the training stable, and at the end of the 1990s Jørgensen decided to hand over the barn to Johnny in order to become a full time catch driver. Of course he continued to drive all the horses for the barn. But I didn t fancy being only a catch driver, so after a couple of years I bought a small farm with a training track and started training a small stable again, says Jørgensen. My brother was doing very well with The Harness Edge May/June 2011
THE EUROPEAN VIEW ~ By Klaus Koch my old barn and I did not want to change that, so I started up again from scratch as a trainer. So for more than ten years I train eight to10 horses in the morning and drive in the evenings three or four times a week, which suits me perfectly. Early in his career as a trainer-driver he became the national champion, which qualified him to represent his country in the European Driving Championship and eventually the World Driving Championship. He won a European title in the late 80s, but it wasn t until 2009 that he captured the ultimate title, that of the World Driving Champion when the competition was held in Norway. In recent years I often refrained from participating in the driving championships, Jørgensen explains. You know, nowadays I compete against young drivers whose fathers I raced with 20 to 25 years ago. Like Goop (Sweden), Langeweg (Netherlands) and Martens (Belgium). Earlier, he continues, the championships were a chance for us drivers to get a time off, to relax and socialize. The championships are more a show than actually a competition between the top drivers of the world. Some drivers representing small harness countries like Great Britain and Russia wouldn t even be in the top 50 in the bigger countries, so you know what I mean. However, in recent years the thrill has disappeared from the championships. The younger drivers are taking it dead serious, and at one point in New Zealand I had to go between two young In recent years I often refrained from participating in the driving championships. You know, nowadays I compete against young drivers whose fathers I raced with 20 to 25 years ago. Like Goop (Sweden), Langeweg (Netherlands) and Martens (Belgium).. Birger Jørgensen European drivers in order to prevent a fight. I mean, you do not travel to the other side of the world in order to beat each other literally! So Jørgensen had to be convinced by the Danish trotting authorities in order represent his country in Norway 2009. I am glad I went. It is of course something special to call yourself a World Champion, Jørgensen admits, and I look forward to participate in the championships in New York and New Jersey this summer. The event seems to be very well prepared, which I like, and to race at the Meadowlands, what a thrill! The author of this article is of the same age as Birger Jørgensen. Actually, Jørgensen is exactly four months younger than me. I have known him for more than 30 years, and I can guarantee that Denmark sends a real champion to the USA. I would describe Jørgensen as a driver who gets the most out of his drives to the smallest costs. Meaning, that he always finds the shortest way to the finish line, and he always hands back a horse well performed. Some will find him extremely defensive, often at the rail, which is a bit dangerous in Scandinavia, where the risk to be blocked in is vast. But in some kind of way Jørgensen always succeeds to serve his horses good and economical trips, and he will be there when then money is distributed at the finish line. With more than 7,000 career wins Birger Jørgensen is in third place in the European all time list. Only German Heinz Wewering (born 1950) with almost 16,500 wins (number one in the world) and Finnish Jorma Kontio (born 1953) approaching his 9,000th win have more. North America will find the representative of Denmark an always happy and extremely polite man of his best age. Extremely fit and competitive, Birger Jørgensen is ready to defend his title. That is all for this time. Please do not hesitate to comment on my articles. My e-mail address is ontrack@telia.com and as usual I would be more than happy to receive reaction from North American harness racing fans. Till next time, Klaus Koch Klaus Koch is one of Scandinavia s leading racing administrators and is perhaps best known for his former role as director of racing at Solvalla Racetrack. May/June 2011 The Harness Edge
ART PROFESSOR p, 4, 1:50s 11 ($320,807) Art Major Allamerican Toffee Western Hanover IN THE CHAMPION S CLOSET Photo by New Image Media 1. I ve raced him in a blind bridle but he s now wearing a Kant See Back. He could probably race just as well in an open bridle. He wears a Murphy Blind inside. 2. His bit is just a plain snaffle with a chin chain which I wear on all my horses to keep their mouth closed. 3. No ear plugs. 4. He wears a Martingale, just a loose one. I think when this horse was young he could have been tough. He wore a more severe tie down before, this is all he needs now. 5. His shoes are plain aluminum with a half swedge behind. I tried steel on him but he s too trappy gaited for them and went back to the aluminum. 6. His harness is a Walsh. 7. His hopples are at 57 inches. Trainer Ben Wallace s comments: We gave $200,000 for this horse last year at Harrisburg. We were looking for a good quality racehorse for the winter without a lot of wear and tear and he fit the bill. We certainly didn t expect to be out on him within six months. He s proven to be a real professional racehorse, you d like to have your whole barn full of horses like him. You know each time he steps on the racetrack he s going to give you an honest effort. He s a big handsome stud horse that can be a son of a gun when you re jogging him, I usually let Straussy (Tom Strauss) jog him because it s a bumpy ride, but on the track he s a professional and in the barn you d never know he was there. I ve been told he was a gorilla on Yonker s half-mile track so we ll see how he does at Western Fair (in the upcoming Molson Pace). Post position at that track is the great equilizer. In The Champion s Closet is sponsored by: 8. Like just about everyone these days, we wear little splint boots on him up front and rundown patches behind over the hind ankles. At the speed they go it s just for protection. 9. He usually wears an Advantage bike which suits him, or Mark MacDonald s bike. But the night he beat St Elmo Hero (which may be watched by clicking on the video icon above) Mark had to borrow a bike because his had a flat tire. 10. He has a headpole on the inside as he'll run in a little on the turns. The Harness Edge May/June 2011