Sir Tiger finally lands an alley at Cambridge on Thursday night.
At long last, Sir Tiger gets a good draw on Thursday - and just watch Zac use it
By Barry Lichter • 16 April 2019
Lincoln Farms’ top two Young Guns might be missing but Sir Tiger’s long overdue luck with the barrier draw could still see it capture the north’s first Sires’ Stakes heat at Cambridge on Thursday night.
Neither of trainer Ray Green’s crack two-year-olds Line Up or Perfect Stride will be seen in action for a while after recent setbacks.
Line Up … soreness prompted two months rest.Line Up was having growing pains and is enjoying two months in the paddock while Perfect Stride was given a month off to completely get over a virus and has been back in work for only a week and a half.
But in Mr Reliable Sir Tiger, Green has a worthy backup, especially now he has drawn the pole for the 1700 metre dash.
The Sir Lincoln colt’s record of three placings from seven starts would have read a lot better had he not been plagued by impossibly wide draws and forced to do too much work.
In seven starts Sir Tiger has drawn 7, 6, 7, 2, 8, 9 and 8. And he made the most of his only good draw when best of the rest behind his super impressive stablemate Line Up.
Typical of his bad luck, he started from the outside of the gate in the Young Guns Final, was hampered early, forced to race wide before finding the death seat 1100 metres out, then all but wiped out by an errant running Virgil in the run home.
Inside second row draws are usually the kiss of death but for Sir Tiger it was almost a godsend two starts back. Following out stablemate Hilary Barry then racing three deep, he mounted the fastest last quarter of 27.7 up the passing lane to run third to pacemaker Bad To The Bone and Eagle Watch.
Against older maiden opposition last week, it was back to normal transmission as Sir Tiger was again stuck on the outside of the gate.
And this time it all went bad turning into the home straight after 400 metres when driver Zachary Butcher tried to restrain him from three wide into the running line.
Pacing too keenly and resenting the brakes being applied, Sir Tiger went roughly and broke for about nine strides before settling, not something he’d done before.
Sir Tiger … over-raced in blinkers last week.“We had blinkers on him for the first time and he just over-raced,’’ says Green. “They’re coming off this week.
“Zac might have been better to let him stride along last week instead of being cute. He’s not really a sit and sprint horse.’’
More a rolling type, lacking a yard of high speed, Green sees the pole draw as a huge benefit to Sir Tiger on Thursday.
Butcher was behind Bad To The Bone at Auckland two starts back but sticks with Sir Tiger this time and will unquestionably be out to hold the lead from gate release.
And the way the horse finished last week for fifth, after being forced four wide round the home bend and running only 4.4 lengths from winner Eyespywithmylittleye, augurs well for Thursday night when he is back to his own age group.
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Spirited Belle
4.46pm
Delany: “I saw she’d been punted but somebody must know something we don’t as I’ve been working her myself and, while she feels all right and hasn’t put the boot in like at Auckland, I think she’ll need the run. She hasn’t got any high speed but feels like she will stay. She has improved a bit but I’d be surprised if she won.”
Race 1: Lincoln Maree
4.46pm
“It’s always hard from these draws but she’s a tough mare who will make her own luck at some stage. She’s going well enough - her drivers have all been happy - and she’s a little warrior who tries like hell.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.12pm
“He’s only two and very inexperienced but he feels like a good colt and there’s a lot of improvement in him. He certainly caught a lot of people’s attention last time. I don’t know how good he is yet but he’ll be right there.”
Race 2: Prince Lincoln
5.12pm
“If he can lead without having to do too much work I can’t see anything beating him. I thought he went great last start. He pressed the winner hard ’til the corner then just flattened out in the run home, but he had every reason to do that after all the work he’d done.”
Race 4: Spirit Of God
6.12pm
“She’s been undone by bad draws. If she led easily from three she’d be hard to beat as she’s a good front-runner.”
Race 4: Spirited Peggy
6.12pm
“We’ve had her for only two weeks but she’s seven now and has had her chance to win one. She has a bit of speed but I think she gets pulling so we’ve got the Hidez (compression) hood on her and plugged her ears up.”
Race 6: Copy N Paste
7.10pm
“We won’t see the best of him for another six months. He’s been a slow developing horse but is improving all the time and getting stronger.”
Race 6: Jessie Lincoln
7.10pm
“If I was having a bet on one of them in the race it would be her. She deserves to win one. Her last two have been really good - she just ran into one who was a bit slicker last time in Major Copy.”
Race 6: Lincoln Dealer
7.10pm
“He’s a bit one-dimensional - you’ve got to feed him track and let him run - so the second row draw is a big handicap. To his credit I was surprised he finished so close last time after all the work he did. When he gets a decent draw and crosses them they’ll know they’re at the races. He’s got a big motor and tries hard.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.08pm
“She clawed her way to the front last time but had nothing left at the finish. That won’t happen this time and she should lead easily from one.”
Race 8: Angelic Copy
8.08pm
“She’s had terrible draws but has been going good races. The others last time were just better than her but this is a big drop in class. With the right trip she could get some of it at huge odds.”
Race 9: Sugar Ray Lincoln
8.35pm
“He’s not quick away from a stand but he won’t muff it completely. He steps from the front line and Peter Ferguson was quite happy with his last run.”
Race 9: Lincoln Wave
8.35pm
“He bombed the stand the first time but to be fair all those horses were rushing up at him from the back and that panicked him a bit. He’s on 10 metres this time so that won’t happen.”
