Captain Nemo, pictured after winning at Manawatu, has aways hinted at more to come. PHOTO: Royden Williams.
Captain Nemo shipshape again, says Mark, but it will all come down to luck from bad draw
By Barry Lichter • 2 August 2021
A very wide draw has thrown a spanner in the works but expect Captain Nemo to go a much better race at Albion Park on Tuesday than he did when debuting in Queensland.
Lincoln Farms’ three-year-old ran a shocker as a $2.30 favourite on June 25, dropping out to beat only one home after hanging in badly and racing roughly round every turn, not allowing driver Anthony Butt to get him closer than three wide for the entire trip.
Butt told stewards during a post race inquiry that the horse raced ungenerously because he was hitting his knees round the bends.
But Lincoln Farms’ Ray Green and now caretaker trainer Mark Dux have sorted that issue, fitting a burr to the horse’s inside rein.
“He’s been good working with it at home,” says Dux. “If he hangs again the next thing to try is a pole but I’ve been very happy with him.”
Captain Nemo hasn’t raced since that inglorious first-up attempt because he tied up but Dux says he’s now on top of that problem.
“He’s got a terrible alley - the outside of the front line - but if he gets a reasonable run he can win.
“It’s not the best field, but they’re not no-hopers. There are a couple in there that go OK. If he was going one-on-one he could beat most of them but it will all come down to luck from that draw.
“If he had brilliant gate speed you could burn across, but he doesn’t, so he’ll have to work into it at some stage.
“If he can get a nice run into the race, he’ll be amongst it.”
Captain Nemo, who is the equal top rated horse in the field and will be driven by Paul Diebert, left New Zealand in career best form, notching his first win at Alexandra Park, after only being able to win previously against Cambridge (three times) and Manawatu company.
And in his second last start at Auckland he beat all but the pomising Art Nouveau, who rounded up a strong field to win the Futurity Final at Auckland last Friday night.
Green has always had a bit of a soft spot for the Captaintreacherous colt, whom he predicted would strengthen into a useful performer for Lincoln Farms owners John and Lynne Street, Gareth Paddison, the Green Machine Syndicate, Grant Dickey, Peter Dougherty and Ian Middleton.
Captain Nemo races at 6.12pm NZ time at Albion Park on Tuesday.
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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.”
