Huge disappointment for Lincoln Farms as exciting Colonel Lincoln bows out again

Trainer Ray Green has been around long enough to know you can’t get too upbeat about horses who have come back from tendon injuries but it still hurt when Colonel Lincoln broke down this week.

The disappointment was even greater for Lincoln Farms’ boss John Street who in recent months celebrated the horse’s great comeback with his brother Kevin, to whom he had gifted a share.

And when Colonel Lincoln scored his latest win last month, just hours after Kevin died, Street rued he was not there to see the contuined rise of his potential cups horse.

But now we’ll never get to see if veteran reinsman Maurice McKendry was right in his prediction that Colonel Lincoln would “stay like a mother-in-law’’.

“He trained like a monster on Saturday but was lame afterwards,” Green said.

“He’s bowed a tendon again. The injury is bad enough, about the same if not worse than last time, so he must have had a weakness in that area.”

Green said everyone at Lincoln Farms had almost forgotten about Colonel Lincoln’s chequered past given how well he had been going since his comeback last December.

Colonel Lincoln is last on the markers but only just behind fourth-placed Republican Party, outer, and co in the Founders Cup.In eight starts, the five-year-old had racked up three wins, three seconds and a third, his only miss at his last start in the Lincoln Farms’ Founders Cup when still only 3.4 lengths from winner Jolimont, with the also-rans spread right acorss the track.

“He was a beautiful horse with a great action and I’m sure he would have gone on and been a really nice performer for us.

“But we always knew it was day-to-day and we’ve had a good run. We have to be grateful for what we got and not be surprised that this has happened.

“That’s that and he’s out in the paddock again. We haven’t even thought about whether we retire him for good or have another go in six months or a year.”

Colonel Lincoln, by Bettor’s Delight out of Jessie’s Cullen, cost a sale-topping $200,000 as a yearling and raced 19 times in all, for four wins, seven placings and $46,082, banking $33,750 since his 21 months away from the track, recovering from two tendon injuries.

Street raced the gelding with his wife Lynne, brother Kevin, sister-in law Glenys and sister Bev Glass.

Colonel Lincoln’s scratching from Friday night’s Bay Of Plenty Country Cup leaves Lincoln Farms without much firepower at Cambridge.

Frisco Bay, inner, runs second to Jolimont in the Founders’ Cup at long odds. Little Spike is third. PHOTO: Megan Liefting/Race Images.Frisco Bay ($61) faces his toughest test yet in the $60,000 Flying Mile, a few rungs harder than even the Founders Cup when he again showed how potent he could be from the trail, running second to Jolimont.

“He’s got the right draw again and if he can get another two hole trip he won’t be the worst out there.”

Green is only living in hope that What’s Up The Hill ($15) can trot all the way in the opening race.

The well bred son of former top age group trotter Escapee has switched into a pace in both his first two attempts, doing it late on debut then soon after the start last time.

Debutant Dreams Of Eric ($11), co-owned by his training partner Nathan Delany, has a bad second row draw to overcome on debut in the fourth race.

“He’s in unchartered territory,” Green said. “He’s used to only two or three horses on the track so the big field will be a test for him.

“But he seems to have a bit of lick, another stride at the workouts the other day and he’d have beaten Debrief, and Stonewall paid $270,000 for him.

“But there are a lot of firsts for him so we’re not holding our breath.”