Brian Christopher after his sole win at Manawatu last December. PHOTO: Royden Williams.
Brian Christopher to give a bold sight in front - but Al warns not to take short odds
By Barry Lichter • 22 June 2021
Trainer Al Barnes is hoping Brian Christopher shows more on race night than he does at home - because otherwise punters could be getting very bad value when the horse makes his Queensland debut at Redcliffe on Wednesday night.
The three-year-old lines up in race seven and being a Kiwi, first-up in Brisbane, Barnes says he’s sure to touch a short price.
Brian Christopher arrives in Brisbane the winner of one of his eight races - against poor opposition at Manawatu - but none of his rivals have been any more successful.
That, however, does little to inspire Barnes.
“I can’t go any weaker than this and I hope he leads and wins but I’m not confident. He just doesn’t have any speed.
“He’s not interested in showing anything at home, I just hope he’s different on race night. Some of them can improve in a race but he’ll be no value.”
Zachary Butcher … Brian Christopher “one-paced.”In his win at Palmerston North last December, driver Zachary Butcher reported Brian Christopher was very one-paced and Barnes says that’s why he hopes he can make the lead from four on Wednesday night and roll along.
“He’s not blistering out of the gate but he does have gate speed. He should give a bold sight in front but Hayden reckons he’s a better chaser. Once that horse got past him in his trial he seemed to try a bit harder.”
Trialled over 1660 metres at Albion Park on May 28, Brian Christopher worked his way to the front and battled away well for a close third when headed by eventual winner Couldntmisafalcon. The heat was won in a moderate mile rate of 1:58 with closing sectionals of 58.3 and 28.5.
“He trailed as well as he can go.”
Brian Christopher, who last raced on January 28 at Cambridge, clocked a mile rate of 2:01.7 in winning his 2000 metre race at Palmerston North and will need to go a lot faster on Wednesday.
Man Of Action won’t need to improve to be right in the hunt in the third race - he just needs a little more luck.
Drawn three on the second row for the third time in a row, Man Of Action tackles 2040 metres on Wednesday, with Barnes predicting he’ll still be competitive.
“It’s a bad draw but I’m happy with him, he’s racing really well and seems to be trying again.”
Last start on June 11, in a stronger field at Albion Park, Man Of Action made ground from four deep on the markers in a mile rate of 1:54.9 to be 11.4 metres fifth behind Nesters Hill.
“A win isn’t far away, he only needs a bit of luck.”
More news in Harness
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Ray tells why he rates Lincoln Lou clearly best of Lincoln Farms’ quartet in the fourth race
It’s all up to Angus - Brisbane’s young gun needs to drive a pearler on Nemo at Redcliffe
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Mark Dux’s comments
Wednesday night at Redcliffe
Race 1: Captain Nemo
7.17pm NZ time
“It’s a reasonable field, they’re not push-overs, but they’re all beatable. It will all come down to who gets the right trip. If we have something go our way we could get some of it as there’s not a lot between them and I don’t think he’s far off now. We’ve got a bad draw again and there’s a bit of speed inside us so I’ll tell Angus to just play it by ear.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Lincoln La Moose
7.32pm
“He’s a pretty good horse. He was still below his best last time at Cambridge - he needed the race - but went very well for second behind King’s Watch. With his ace draw, he should be right up there for Zac (Butcher). He always looked a bit delicate but he’s got tougher.”
Race 4: Obadiah Dragon
7.32pm
“He’ll go a good race but our others look better here. His last run was below par for him so we took a blood off him and he had a bit of a virus going on. He was at the tail end of it but it was enough to stop him.”
Race 4: Lincoln Lou
7.32pm
“Even if he’s half a run short, I don’t think it will matter, he’ll still be too good for this lot. He only had a mild virus which came right with treatment and he’s trained on well since. He feels pretty good and if I was betting man, I’d bet him for sure based on his last run, which was massive.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.32pm
“He’s in a ‘coming of age’ phase. He rushed up beside them last start and wanted to lay all over them and give them a hug. But that’s normal coltish behaviour. He does that in training as well, rushes up and switches off. He has a lot of ability but also a few little behaviour traits that we need to get on top of.”
Race 6: My Copy
8.24pm
“It won’t be easy from four on the second row but he’s very honest and, if opportunity knocks, he’ll be right there. If he gets a trip, he’s always ready to pounce.”
Race 9: Tyson
9.39pm
“He should be one of the favourites. The raw ability is there and he’ll definitely win races as he has a bit of speed. How far he will take us we have yet to find out but I thought he did really well last time given the run he had.”
