Rival pushes Make Way to near track record but he still does it oh so easily
By Barry Lichter • 7 November 2019
Make Way scored another comfortable win at Penrith tonight - despite being forced to run a near track record by a rival who niggled at his lead for half the race.
Lincoln Farms’ rising talent was attacked hard from the 1200 metre mark by Squire, who went head and head with him through quarters of 28.5 and 28.1.
But Squire was under heavy pressure before the home turn and it was left to the trailing So Kool Master to try to challenge up the straight, the second favourite coming up 2.3 metres short.
Make Way clocked 2:33.7 for the 2125 metre mobile, a mile rate of 1:56.4.
In praising the win, commentator Fred Hastings pointed to a new track record set only recently - Valoroso Hanover posted 1:56.2 a couple of weeks ago - but the listed track record for that trip is 1:55.9, set by The Golden Cross in 2017.
Make Way sprints clear of So Kool Master to win easily.Driver Anthony Butt said while Make Way had no peace, he was always travelling well.
“You always like to go as slow as you can, so it wasn’t ideal, but it seemed to keep his mind on it.
“He had a nice horse on his back and held it pretty comfortably so the run was really good.”
Butt let Make Way run out of the gate from four but stayed out of an early duel between runners inside him.
“He came out really well but I waited ’til the two inside him sorted themselves out. I knew the front would be there for me so there was no panic.”
Butt allowed Make Way to take the lead after 400 metres and for the rest of the first lap he was able to rate the horse as he liked.
“When that other horse came alongside it kept him honest but we had it covered a long way out.”
Butt said he was happy to land another cruisy win for Make Way because he knows it won’t be long before the horse has to tackle much better opposition.
His partner, trainer Sonya Smith has circled the A$14,900 Bankstown Cup on November 22 as the next target.
“But the next time he races at Menangle he’ll probably have to go in the free-for-all. The system can penalise you sometimes when you win them in a row but it evens out in the end.”
Make Way has now won all three of his starts this term, tonight’s purse of A$3380 taking his tally this season to A$18,460. He has won nine of his 18 races for Smith boosting his career tally to verging on A$120,000.
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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.”
