by Debbie Little

When Rikard Skoglund left his home in Sweden for a three-week vacation in the U.S., he hoped to get the opportunity to drive at The Meadowlands. Winning his very first start was the cherry on top of the sundae.

“It was tremendous to get the shot, the opportunity, from [trainer] Per [Engblom] to drive a good horse in my first race at The Meadowlands,” Skoglund said. “I am really happy for that and I want to thank him for it. It was really, really nice.”

According to Engblom, harness racing in Sweden is a tight-knit community, and even though it’s a big country, everybody knows everybody.

“Before I moved back [to the U.S.] in 2012, Rikard was just getting started and driving a little and he made a name for himself quite quickly as a young kid, so, I was well aware of him,” Engblom said. “He’s a good catch driver in Sweden, like really good. I think he’s top-10 this year, but he’s been top-five. So, he’s been driving for quite a lot of the top names over there.

“In Sweden, sometimes it takes a little while to break through… So, I think he’s 33 or 34, that’s still considered a young driver back home, which it kind of is here, too. But it takes a while to break through and he broke through early and he’s staying at it.”

Skoglund, 34, a native of Sundsvall, Sweden, comes from a harness racing family that dates back before the start of WWI.

Skoglund remembers being introduced to the sport at a young age by his father, Anders, who was a trainer.

“In the winter, I was sitting under a blanket, it was really cold, and I was holding the lines with him in the beginning,” Rikard said. “I think the first time I was 2 or 3 years old when I went with him in the jog cart.”

Despite the fact that Rikard was talented in multiple sports, there was only one that really mattered.

“I played a lot of soccer back home in Sweden, but in my family, harness racing was always No. 1,” Rikard said. “If you wanted attention at the dinner table, you needed to win [with the ponies]. We had small pony horses that we raced when we were young.”

According to Rikard, driving pony horses as a child helped him learn how to drive challenging horses.

“My father didn’t buy the best ponies for me and my brother,” Rikard said. “He’d buy difficult horses that you should learn to drive properly.”

As he got older, Rikard remembers calling in sick to school just to drive horses at the racetrack.

Ake Svanstedt is from Rikard’s hometown and was good friends with Rikard’s father, who died in a car accident when Rikard was just 16.

“I started working for Ake a short period before I went professional,” Rikard. “I started as a trainer, too, when I was 21.

“Ten years ago, you couldn’t start catch driving directly. You needed to start training horses and driving your own horses. It was a different game 10 years ago.”

Rikard has won races for many top trainers in Europe, including Stefan Melander, Daniel Reden and former U.S. resident Jerry Riordan.

“I first used Rikard for the obvious reason,” Riordan said. “I was racing in Stockholm and I went down the list of the top drivers and Rikard was the first one available. He gave the horse a good drive so I kept him on that particular horse as he raced around Sweden and in Germany. He ended up winning the biggest international race there is in Germany, the Grosser Preis von Deutschland in Hamburg. After that, I continued using Rikard when I was in his neighborhood. He is in north central Sweden and I am in the south.

“He has very good hands and is kind to the horses. He can get one to go fast without stressing them. That’s a real asset if you want your horses to stay happy and sound. He is also a knowledgeable horseman that can help you out with a problem horse. I have no doubt if he decides to move to America, he will stay busy.”

Part of the reason for Rikard’s current U.S. trip was to test the waters and see if, indeed, he likes the style of racing here before making a life-changing commitment.

“I was really close to doing it just before the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rikard said. “I was thinking in the same terms then, I wanted to come here and try and then the pandemic came and after that, I was starting to drive for the biggest trainer in Sweden. I drive a lot for him. So, I had too much to lose to try it.”

Rikard and his fiancé, Lina Bergström, welcomed their son, William, into the world in April of this year, reigniting his interest in taking a shot in the U.S.

“After [William was born], I felt like if I want to do it I need to do it right now before he will be older and starting school or something,” Rikard said. “So, if I want to make a move, it’s time to do it now.”

Rikard heads home on Dec. 17, and after the holidays, will sit down with his fiancé to discuss possible opportunities for 2024. A move to the U.S. would be a big undertaking with a house and family at home, but Rikard believes he’s up for the challenge.

“For me, I never see the problems,” Rikard said. “I always see the possibility.”

Should Rikard pull the trigger and make the move to the U.S., Engblom believes his talent will get him far.

“Obviously there’ve been a lot of successful trainers, both guys that have come when they were young, like Takter and Eriksson, and Melander, but Ake was a little bit older when he moved here and so was Nordin back in the day,” Engblom said. “So, we’ve been having a lot of successful trainers move from Sweden, but actually no one that really tried to break through as only a driver, which is a little strange, actually. But you know what, why not? Why not? I think he’s got all the tools that he needs.”

Last weekend, Rikard drove in five races — two at Harrah’s Philadelphia and three at The Meadowlands — all for Engblom. On a special Thursday card last night (Dec. 7) at The Big M, he picked up two catch drives — not for Engblom — that were both the second choice on the morning-line in their respective races.

“I’m always looking for horses that show ability to do work in the toughest parts of the mile and maintain position, at least better than their competition,” said The Meadowlands morning-line odds maker, James Witherite, about making Rikard’s horses the second choice in both races. “Take that, and then add a driver like Skoglund, who has more than proven himself against Sweden’s best and brightest, and you’ve got two major factors converging — and that can sometimes be a rarity in some of these lower-level races.”

Rikard also has four drives tonight (Dec. 8), including two for Engblom, which are both morning-line favorites.

“He’s talented and smart, very smart,” Engblom said. “He looks around and he’s like, ‘I’m in America now, I have to adjust to the American race style,’ which I think is a must if you come here as a European. It’s hard to compete on the highest level even if you come from New Zealand or Australia, like we’ve seen with Dexter [Dunn], with Andy [McCarthy], with Todd [McCarthy]. They’ve been adjusting to the American style of racing and they’ve been tremendously successful.

“So, there’s no doubt in my mind that a guy like Rikard, that’s a good driver, that’s very experienced and is adjusting to the American style of racing will do equally good.”

Rikard always dreamed of one day driving at The Meadowlands and now that it’s happened, it did not disappoint.

“I drive at Vincennes in Paris and I drive a lot and have won a lot at Solvalla in Sweden, that’s my home track, but for me, The Meadowlands has always been the greatest,” Rikard said. “Everybody is really, really nice at The Meadowlands. The trainers and the drivers and the judges, everyone is really easy to talk with and friendly, so, it feels good to be new, but it feels like I have been there before.”