Big Bang Moment for Nicole Holmén

In September, Nicole Holmén qualified Bollerups Big Bang for the Lövsta Future Challenge final at Scandinavium. Since then, she has had one clear goal in mind: victory.

“I’ve tried to calm myself down a bit and remind myself that four faults can happen easily, but I’ve planned everything to make this an optimal journey,” said Nicole.

In the Lövsta Future Challenge, Sweden’s best seven-year-old horses face riders from the world elite. The starting field included names such as Willem Greve, Harrie Smolders, and Kim Emmen. Over the weekend, riders competed in three classes. Nicole and Bollerups Big Bang finished third in the first class and won the second. On Sunday, 18 riders came to the start; seven advanced to the jump-off, where Nicole was by far the fastest, winning with a clear margin.

In total, Nicole qualified four horses for Scandinavium. Two of them were ridden by other jockeys: the stallion Kathmandu ES Z was ridden by her sister Stephanie, while Carex was to be ridden by Peder Fredricson. Unfortunately, Peder was injured and did not compete.

“I had to choose between Bollerups Big Bang and Bollerups Big Bucks (who are actually full siblings via embryo transfer). The choice fell on Big Bang, who felt the most ready for the task,” said Nicole, admitting that he was probably also the one with the greatest chance of winning.

All four horses Nicole qualified are owned by Grevlunda Vitaby AB, the company of Lisen Bratt Fredricson and Peder Fredricson, with whom Nicole has a long-standing collaboration. She trains and competes their horses as a consultant. Her everyday life looks much like that of many others: she lives in a house in Höllviken with her family, juggling preschool pick-ups and evening meals like many 30-year-olds.

“I actually find it quite nice to come home, let everything go, and just be with the kids,” said Nicole.

One consequence of this setup is that the horses are usually for sale. Among the horses she rides for Grevlunda, her longest partnership has lasted one and a half years. Hopefully, Big Bang will stay with her a bit longer.

“Now Big Bang will get some rest, and then we’ll prepare him for the outdoor season.”

Second place went to Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen with Enzo BW. Johan-Sebastian pushed hard, but time was not on his side this time.

“He’s a horse I believe in a lot. He jumped very well today, and I think he will continue to develop.”

Third place was claimed by Jüri Sokolovski with Onyva. Based in Sweden, Jüri had originally qualified Von Chap Son for the final through the Lövsta Future Challenge, but that horse was sold. When he was selected for the five-star competitions, he was able to bring Onyva instead.

“I tried to optimise everything and go as fast as I could today. Today it was enough for third place. The other two were a bit quicker. Now I’ll head home and practise a little more,” said Jüri Sokolovski with a smile.