Tommy Lincoln just fails to catch his former stablemate Northview Hustler last start as a $40 outsider.
Mission impossible for Tommy tonight as terrible draws dog Dux at the Creek
By Barry Lichter • 10 December 2022
It’s mission impossible for Tommy Lincoln at Albion Park tonight when he tackles a very strong field in the Lord Mayors Cup from a very bad draw.
Trainer Mark Dux was ruing his bad luck when the fields came out - two of his three runners have drawn the outside of the back row and Tommy Lincoln is widest on the front line.
“That’s a terrible alley for him. We’ll go back, well, hopefully we can get him back, drive him cold, and hope for a lot of luck in the running.”
Frustrating for Dux is the fact Tommy is coming off one of his best runs in a long time when, as a $40 outsider last start, he went down by only half a neck to Northview Hustler.
The run justified Dux’s pe-race belief that Tommy could feature, given half decent luck.
“He’s been running times as good as any of them but on Saturday night, from the draw, it’ll be near impossible for him.
“There’s nothing missing in that field, it’s the best of what’s going around at the moment, and with a full field of 12 runners we’re going to end up right at the tail.
“Northview Hustler and Mach da Vinci will come out and I’m picking Pete McMullen will chime in at some stage on Blacksadance.
“It would be good for us if they go silly but, if they walk and sprint home, we could run home in 26 and still be out the back.”
That said, Dux still believes Tommy will race well - “the only time he doesn’t is when he cuts off his air”.
Tommy is likely to sit out next week’s Christmas Cup, because it is over the longer 2680 metre trip.
Tommy Lincoln races at 10.36pm NZ time at Albion Park on Saturday night.
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Ray: Sammy Lincoln has ‘turned the corner’ and can go on with it on Friday night
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Angelic Copy
4.53pm
“She’s done everything right and trialled really nicely. I think she’s forward enough to give some cheek. She’s only small. You like to think when you get a good two-year-old like her that they’ll get stronger and transition into a nice three-year-old but she hasn’t grown an inch. But she tries hard and enjoys being out there.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.28pm
“I’m looking forward to seeing him. You never really know ’til you get to the races but he’s trialled well enough to start and I wouldn’t be surprised if he went a good race, despite the draw. He’s a nice sensible colt who’s done nothing wrong and he could develop into a really nice three-year-old.”
Race 6: Lincoln Wave
7.22pm
“He was starting to get into the habit of switching off so we trained him in blinds this week and he went pretty well. He was good from a standing start at the trials with shorteners in and Maurice was actually quite bullish about his standing start manners and thinks that, in time, he’ll end up being a quick beginner. If he steps well, and can land in the first one or two, he’ll definitely be hard to get round.”
Race 6: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.22pm
“He’s not spectacular from a stand but he will get away, albeit sometimes a bit slowly. Lincoln Wave has more speed than him but if it comes down to a slugfest he’d be too strong as he’s rock hard fit.”
Race 8: Prince Lincoln
8.23pm
“The blinds go back on this week and if he steps and leads like he did three starts ago that would make him the one to beat. He showed with that win that he’s above average and will be a serious chance.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.23pm
“You could argue she’s a Cambridge horse but sometimes when you throw them in with the bear cats they lift their game and I thought she was really good here last week. Tony (Cameron) said she’d have finished a bit closer too if he hadn’t had to take hold of her close to home (when he ran out of room and hit a marker pole).”
Race 8: Sammy Lincoln
8.23pm
“We’ve got blinds on him this week. Harry said he lost concentration a couple of times last week, including at the top of the straight, and thought he’d be a bit more on to it with blinds on. I still thought his was the run of the race last time - none of the others could have done what he did - and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score.”
