by Melissa Keith

Expectations run high for a double O’Brien Award winner making a seasonal comeback, perhaps even higher because of a name that suggests no less than perfection. Monday night (April 10) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Perfetto (6, 1:51.4s; $587,857) took it all in winning stride for trainer/driver Dagfin Henriksen.

The Majestic Son—Perfect Prelude gelding was voted Canada’s Older Male Trotter of the Year in 2020 and 2021, but didn’t repeat in 2022, when Fashion Frenzie (4, 1:51.2s; $744,585) brought home the title. Perfetto instead received another honor last spring when he was invited to compete in two of Europe’s most prestigious trotting events.

Despite just two victories last year, beating Dream Nation in the Woodbine Mohawk Park preferred on Feb. 28 and March 14, 2022, Perfetto’s consistency made him a standout. He finished second to Oney Hall in the next three WMP preferreds and then third to that win-streaking rival on May 16. The gelding left his home at Baycairn Training Centre in Guelph, ON three days after that show finish: He had already earned his place behind the gate for the 2022 Elitloppet and Oslo Grand Prix.

Perfetto traveled to Congress Hill Farm in Monroe Township, NJ first, relaxing under the supervision of trainer Jonas Czernyson for a few days, then flying to Sweden. The 7-year-old gelding made a perfect ambassador: Bred by Seawind Amg Stables of Mount Hebron, NB and owned by Gerald Haggerty of Camden East, ON, he would attempt to become the first Canadian Elitloppet champion since Billyjojimbob, who won his heat and the 1992 final. The only other Canadian winner was Fresh Yankee, a heat and final winner in 1969.

Although Perfetto and Henriksen ended up fifth in their May 29, 2022 Elitloppet elimination, the 45-year-old horseman remained upbeat about the experience.

“We just lost out on the final, but that’s the name of the game,” Henriksen said. “You meet the best of the best. All the best horses in the world compete there and it’s not an easy race, that’s for sure.”

French star Etonnant won last year’s edition for driver Anthony Barrier.

Earning the “pink ticket” to the Elitloppet was a thrill for Norwegian native Henriksen and partner Laura Trask, who is also Perfetto’s caretaker.

“It’s a big deal to get invited,” Henriksen said. “It’s invite-only and they [organizers] look around the world to pick and choose the horses they want and if you want to go, you go. That was very exciting. It’s bigger than anyone can imagine. There’s nothing even close over here in North America. If you haven’t been there, you can’t imagine it. You know, there’s a lot of big races here, but there’s nothing even close to what that is, that’s for sure.”

On June 12, Perfetto finished seventh in the 10-horse field of the 2022 Oslo Grand Prix at Norway’s Bjerke Racetrack.

“We got the tough [outside] post and we didn’t really have any luck there, but we got to go and that was fun too. We had a very good experience… It’s a whole different ball game,” Henriksen said, describing the European Group 1 races, particularly the Elitloppet. “I don’t know how to say it, but they make a lot of media [coverage] out of it. It’s very big… They have younger stakes races too, but they make the bigger races for the older ones because they usually have developed and they know how to race better.”

Perfetto went winless after his return to racing at Mohawk, concluding his 2022 campaign by finishing seventh on Oct. 24.

“He had an injury last season,” Henriksen said. “He had a stress line, so we had to make sure it was healed before we could race him again. It’s like a fracture, but it’s not a fracture: If you keep going, it can turn into a fracture, and then a fracture can turn into a break, right? It’s a thing you have to take care of.”

He said the gelding spent the past five months building up to his 2023 debut: “Stall rest, turnout, and then training back.”

Second to Logan Park in a March 24 Mohawk qualifier, 3-5 favorite Perfetto finished fourth to Esplosione at his home track on April 3. Then on Monday night (April 10) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Perfetto returned to perfection.

“He seemed back to his old self again last night,” Henriksen said. “That’s a good sign.

“He trained back really strong and we were taking our time, making sure he was ready before we took him out. He seems to be back to his old self. He hasn’t raced that hard the last three, four years, because of COVID. He only got 20-some starts [per year] in the last three years, I think. It didn’t hurt him much, at all.”

Facing other non-winners of $8,500 in their previous five starts, Henriksen was first off the gate Monday night with Perfetto. They were safely ahead of 4-5 favorite White Tiger when that pocket-sitting rival rolled into a break near the half. They were never headed for the rest of the 1:53.4 mile, holding off next-best Mystic (Louis-Philippe Roy) by 2 1/2 lengths.

“Yeah, that didn’t matter,” Henriksen said, referencing White Tiger’s break. “I don’t think the class drop mattered much either, but it’s just [Perfetto’s] second start back in five months. They need a couple of starts under their belt before they can show their old self, usually. Some people like to qualify them two or three times; I like to put them in to go, right away.”

It was Perfetto’s 26th victory in 106 North American starts.

The 8-year-old trotter’s schedule doesn’t include any globetrotting this season, or even venturing far from Campbellville, ON.

“We’re just going to stay at Mohawk with him, make sure he comes back the way he’s supposed to,” Henriksen said. “There are no bigger plans for him this year.”

Seventh in the 2022 Maple Leaf Trot at Mohawk, Perfetto will be sitting it out this time around.

“If he comes back the way I’m hoping, then maybe we’ll put him back in for next year,” said his trainer. “I don’t think that age matters as much, like the horses from Europe come over here at 10 and 11… I think the management of the horse [matters] more than anything else.”

Henriksen said the 2023 Breeders Crown at Harrah’s Hoosier Park is a firm maybe.

“Unless we supplement him into it,” he said. “It depends on how he continues his comeback here. We’ll take our time for now and go from there.”

Driving his own trainees at Canada’s top track makes Henriksen a rarity in the catch driver era.

“Yeah, there’s more of that in Europe, for sure,” he said, expressing uncertainty about whether it helps that he knows every small detail about the horses he sits behind. “Sometimes you do, for sure, because some horses are trickier to drive than others. I think you get a little advantage from that, but you also have a lot of the drivers who drive every day and every race, so they have a lot more experience of the driving part. I think there’s pros and cons for both of them.”

Aspects of how he campaigned Perfetto paid off in last year’s Elitloppet invitation.

“They watch for all kinds of stuff [at Solvalla],” Henriksen said. “If [trainers] have [horses] on medication, it’s a strike on them because they’re not legal with any medication over there, Lasix and stuff like that… They have a lot of stricter rules, for sure.”

Trotting hobbles are also unwelcome. Fortunately, Perfetto “didn’t race with them for a long time before that,” Henriksen said. “He raced in them maybe in the first season I had him and then I took them off, because I didn’t think he needed them anymore. He was racing without hobbles for at least a season and a half, maybe two seasons, before he even got invited.”

Mohawk makes a perfect home track for Perfetto.

“He’s a big horse and he needs the big track,” said Henriksen, who manages a stable of nine just a 10-minute drive away from the ⅞-mile landmark. “I don’t really want to try him at the half-mile [tracks] or anything like that. The money is best at the big tracks too, right? To have a horse like that, you go where the money is.”

The two-time divisional champion will draw on maturity and back class Monday (April 17), as he and Henriksen start from the Mohawk rail in race nine.

“He has to move up a class after the race he won [Monday, April 10] and we’ll just go from there and see if he can make his way up to the top class again. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Racing the talented trotter is an ongoing dream for the Norwegian native, who learned early lessons in harness racing from a closely related 2009 O’Brien Award of Horsemanship winner.

“Per Henriksen is my family, he’s my dad’s cousin,” Dagfin said. “And my great-grandfather was into harness racing, big time, back home, so it’s been in the family for a long time.”

Perfect? Not always, but Perfetto’s attitude might come close.

“The thing is, he’s very versatile and he’s just a good racehorse,” said his trainer/driver. “He likes to do his job, he likes to race and that’s reflected on the racetrack. I think. He’s got a big fan club.”