per eriksson
In addition to three Hambletonians and a Hambletonian Oaks, Per Eriksson was the trainer of multiple Breeders Crown winners, five World Trotting Derby winners, two Kentucky Futurity winners, and many of the sport’s other major races of his day, especially those for two- and three-year-old trotters.
Eriksson was born on October 17, 1960 in Linkoping, Sweden. The first horses he groomed were his father’s at their farm, and at Mantorp, a Swedish track. He later hooked up with the famous Team Nordin - father Soren and son Jan – and came with them to the United States in 1981 as a groom.
In 1982 Eriksson was entrusted with catch-driving some of Team Nordin’s talented trotters while Soren and Jan were driving Grand Circuit stock. Eriksson’s determination and work ethic manifested themselves early on, allowing him a meteoric rise in his young career. He was known as a thoughtful innovator - one example being the 1982 filly Davidia Hanover 4,1:56 ($1,108,252) whom he helped to regain her championship form by having a caretaker ride her instead of going through the conventional jogging and training.
Eriksson soon decided to take off on his own as a trainer. The top two-year-old of 1984 for Eriksson was Prakas 3,1:53.2 ($1,956,056), who finished second in the $1 million Peter Haughton Memorial. The following year, Prakas won the Hambletonian in record straight heats of 1:55.1 and 1:54.3. In a heat of the Horseman Futurity at Indianapolis he set a 1:55.2 track race record. A week later he won the $553,750 World Trotting Derby at Du Quoin in 1:53.2 to become the world’s fastest trotter at the time. At the end of the season Prakas captured the Breeders Crown at Mohawk and went on to become 1985 Trotter of the Year.
In 1991 the Eriksson-trained Giant Victory 3,1:54.4 ($1,252,243) won Trotter of the Year honors. Giant Victory won nine of 20 starts including the $1,238,000 Hambletonian and the $365,406 Breeders Crown, while earning $1,130,488, with Eriksson being voted Trainer of the Year. In 1992 Eriksson was responsible for another Trotter of the Year and Hambletonian winner, Alf Palema 3,1:54.3 ($1,106,842). In 1994 Eriksson trainee Lookout Victory 7,1:54.3s ($1,921,611) captured the Breeders Crown and accomplished the same feat the following year along with a Hambletonian Oaks victory.
Other horses who won divisional honors under Eriksson’s care included Giant Mermaid 4,1:54.4 ($365,039), 1992 Breeders Crown winner Giant Chill 3,1:55.4 ($694,113), 1999 Breeders Crown winner Dream Of Joy 2,1:57 ($826,601) and 2000 Kentucky Futurity winner, Hall of Famer Credit Winner 3,1:54 ($1,495,295).
Eriksson returned to Sweden in 2001where he continued to train dozens of horses. After reducing the size of his stable, Eriksson has most recently been traveling around his native country helping amateur drivers for the Swedish Trotting Association.