Make Way, comin’ through! Ants to blast out and take easy kill for Kiwi colt at Goulburn
By Barry Lichter • 28 April 2019
Make Way looks poised to win the easiest A$3600 of his life at Goulburn on Monday.
Lincoln Farms’ good three-year-old, who has paced two excellent races in far stronger company at Menangle in recent weeks, drops way down in grade and will be suited by the longer 2240 metre trip.
A four-race winner who has tackled some of the best three-year-olds in New Zealand with merit, Make Way meets a field comprising two maidens, one a 42-start failure, six horses who had won one race, including one who has had 71 attempts, and three horses who have won just two races at country tracks.
Drawn six on the front line, top horseman Anthony Butt plans to make an early assault for the lead and if he gets there it would be game over.
“There are a couple inside him who can get out but hopefully they’ll look at the tote and relent to him.
“But even if he doesn’t get there it doesn’t matter, he’s pretty adaptable.’’
Form pundits would say $1.50 would be good money for Make Way after his last two runs at Menangle where he has run the fastest sectionals despite drawing the second row and wide on the front.
Anthony Butt and partner Sonya Smith.Two starts back he made up a huge amount of ground to run second to the well regarded Typhoon Stride, clocking 55.9 for his last 800 metres, compared with the winner’s 57.1, pacing 1:53.85 and going under by just five one hundredths of a second.
Last time, on April 23, Butt’s plan to come out fast was wrecked when a rival broke.
“I had to take evasive action and ended up right at the back again.’’
Butt mounted a big run three wide at the 700 metre mark and was forced out five wide turning in when the ones in front of him failed to carry him into the race.
Make Way powered down the stretch to run a close fourth, clocking 55.87 and 27.73, again easily the fastest last 800 and 400 in the race.
His time of 1:52.84 was the quickest he has run since arriving in Australia - and that was achieved three, four and five wide, not against the markers.
“As soon as he gets a decent draw he’ll win one at Menangle,’’ says Butt.
“He’s run great from bad draws in good fields so hopefully he gets the job done on Monday.
“It’s never as easy as you think but Goulburn is a fair track and should suit him.’’
An anti-clockwise track, with a circumference of 1050 metres and a short home straight of 196 metres, Goulburn is well cambered. The track record for 2240 metres is a mile rate of 1:54.2 set by For A Reason in January, 2014.
But the three-year-old record mile rate of 1:58.8 looks well within Make Way’s grasp if the race is run to suit.
“He’s competitive every time he goes around,’’ says Butt. “He’s raced great all the way through, apart from the derby heat when he was crook.’’
In seven starts since joining Butt and his partner Sonya Smith, Make Way has built a formline of 2381224.
Make Way races at 4.12pm NZ time on Monday.
More news in Harness
Emotional night at the Park as Sammy Lincoln steps up for John and his sister Maree
Rivergirl Bella finally delivers - and Phil kicks himself for not being there or having a punt
This is it, Sammy, the draw’s a bit of a pain but you can eat these non-winners for breakfast
Prince Lincoln finally shows what he’s made of - and, wow, was that a blazing demolition!
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.14pm
“She tries hard and is getting stronger. She just needs a trip to be right there.”
Race 3: Copy N Paste
6.16pm
“Maurice said he got a bit tired on debut but I didn’t expect a lot. Four months ago you’d have wondered if he’d ever qualify. He’ll improve on that - he’s improving all the time - but from seven he’ll have to go back and come into it late.”
Race 5: Lincoln Linda
7.14pm
Update: Scratched
“She’s up in grade but is a chance again if she can get a good run up the front of the field. It was a good effort last time to break 2:43.”
Race 8: Lincoln Maree
8.49pm
“She’s trained on OK and, while no champion, has to be a chance down in grade against the amateur horses.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Jessie Lincoln
6.57pm
“I can’t see her beating Sammy Lincoln but with a good draw at last you’ll see a better performance. She’s capable of finishing in the first three.”
Race 4: Spirit Of God
6.57pm
“She bolted in at the workouts, leading out from a wide gate and getting home in 27.9. She’s a great driving little mare and has good manners. I could see her winning one very soon.”
Race 4: Sammy Lincoln
6.57pm
“I know we’ve said it before but he has been unlucky a few times and, all things being fair and square, it’s hard to see him beaten. The draw is awkward but everything points to him winning. There are no derby horses in there and he went a great race in the Northern Derby last start.”
Race 4: Marylynes Boy
6.57pm
“He’s a tidy little horse. I can’t see him winning from the (second row) draw but he’s like Spirit Of God, he’s not far away from winning one.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.25pm
“He’s been a late developer. You can see it in his growth, his withers have finally popped up, and he’ll get better as time goes on. He’s no champion but he should be a handy horse through winter. He’s capable of stepping away fairly well.”
Race 5: Leo Lincoln
7.25pm
“It’s a toss-up between the two of them. Sugar Ray is a bit stronger perhaps but Leo is very good from a stand. You can forget that last run in the Messenger - he was only in there to help get the race off the ground.”
Race 7: Prince Lincoln
8.25pm
“He finally showed us what he’s got last week. Inside second row draws can be awkward - you’re at the mercy of the others - but he could end up with a good trail behind the leader.”
