Lind looks to continue Kentucky success

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Be it just one race or an entire season, it seems as though Christian Lind and instant success were made for each other.

In the first drive of his career in July 2016, Lind guided a horse to victory that started from the nine hole and went off at 15-1. Flash forward to 2021. In his first full season focusing strictly on driving — and his first at Kentucky’s Oak Grove Racing & Gaming — he led all drivers in wins and earnings.

“It was a great experience to come out here,” said Lind, whose hard work belies the fact that last year’s achievements were truly instant. “That was my first meet where I’d gotten away from the training part and just focused on driving. So, to be able to come out the first time I attempted it and to have so much success as I did, it was a great experience.”

Christian Lind won 37 times in 2021 in a career-high 240 starts. Chris Gooden photo.

Lind won 26 times in 118 starts at Oak Grove, earning $271,799 in purses. He also raced at Red Mile, where he was a win from cracking the Top 10 in the driver standings. For the entire season, he compiled 37 wins, 44 seconds, 29 thirds, and $379,781 in a career-high 240 starts.

The Florida resident got off to a decent start in 2022. When Oak Grove opened this past Sunday, Lind had one win, one second, and two thirds in seven drives.

“It’s nice to get back out here,” Lind said. “After the last meet, I haven’t really been racing anything. To get back in the bike and be able to go around the track and figure stuff out again, I felt pretty good.”

Lind started in the business working and driving for his dad, Staffan, a trainer from Sweden. In 2017-18 he combined for 40 wins and nearly $563,000 in earnings.

“I would drive his horses on the side,” Lind said. “Whenever he would need me, I would drive for him. Mostly I would just focus on the training aspect.”

Three years ago, he got an opportunity to help out trainer Nancy Takter.

“My dad was getting down on horses and planning on moving back home to Sweden,” Lind said. “I jumped right on that because it was a great learning experience to be around someone like Nancy. That was another time where the training part was the main focus. Then it was all about trying to learn. I still drove a little bit at the Red Mile but last year was the first time I could actually just focus on driving.”

Christian finally decided to take a full shot at driving, having been influenced by a couple of pretty good sulky sitters.

“Any time I get around the Grand Circuit guys they’ve been helpful,” Lind said. “I’ve talked a lot to Yannick (Gingras) and recently Andrew McCarthy has been a big proponent of getting me more motivated to try to pursue this a little bit more. He told me to use my potential and don’t get stuck just driving part-time here and there. He told me he thinks I have the capabilities of doing this fulltime.”

Armed with that advice, Lind made driving at Oak Grove his main mission.

“I’d built good connections in Kentucky over the years where I’d driven part-time at Lexington,” he said. “It helped to have a lot of people backing me as soon as I came out here. I got some good drives and good horses to take care of.”

Not surprisingly, he found Oak Grove to his liking. And because he wasn’t splitting his duties between training and driving, it made him better in the bike.

“I think that helps a lot when you’re able to just focus on what you’re doing and driving more regularly,” he said. “You do get into a rhythm. It had a big impact on the success I had. Just being able to do it over and over again and finding some confidence in what you’re doing.”

After the season, Lind began helping Marcus Melander train down young horses for a second straight winter. Lind drove some Melander horses at Red Mile and the trainer liked his attitude.

“It’s great with Marcus,” Lind said. “It feels like any time you’re out on the track with him you can ask him questions and learn about horsemanship. I started helping him last year at Lexington then I came out to Oak Grove to drive. The plan was always to go back to him during the winter.”

Due to Lind’s appreciation for what Melander has done for him, he is still taking time during this season to help him out.

“I’m going to be flying back and forth,” he said. “I’m still training the babies for Marcus now and I’ll have his horses for the Red Mile. They’ve helped me out a lot, so I don’t want to just leave them hanging.”

This will not be like in the past, however. Where it used to be maybe a 60-40 or 50-50 split between training and driving; it’s now more like a 20-80 split with driving being the 80.

“Originally I would never have flown out here to do this meet if I was still helping him,” Lind said. “But now it’s more like I’m looking to move on a little bit. They’ve been super supportive about it.”

Along with his dad, Takter and Melander, Christian counts Mississippi trainer John Hughes as one of his biggest influences. When Lind started driving at the Red Mile he drove Hughes’ horses when they met.

“We had a pretty good year, so when I kept coming back, he kept using me,” Lind said. “He really got me most of my drives at the Red Mile and here at Oak Grove. I think he really opened everybody’s eyes out here to my potential. He helped me a lot in that way.”

Once he completes the Oak Grove meet in mid-July, Lind will return to Red Mile, where he will drive and continue to help Melander. Over the winter he will begin making plans to broaden his exposure at some out-of-state tracks. He has an eye on becoming strictly a fulltime driver.

“I think it’s still going to take a little bit of time,” Lind said. “I have to establish myself a little more to get regular mounts outside of just the Kentucky meets. But that would be my ultimate goal. I’m definitely putting way more focus on it now than I have been in the past.”

For the time being, he has no intentions of leaving Oak Grove.

“Not until it goes sideways, that’s for sure,” Lind said with a laugh. “I love the people out here. They’re good to be around.”

And he’s pretty good himself when it comes to racing there.

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