Detective Dux saves our Tommy from three-month ban over bleeding incident at trials
By Barry Lichter • 14 June 2023
Trainer Mark Dux turned into detective Hercule Poirot to save Tommy Lincoln from being wrongly stood down for three months over a bleeding incident at Albion Park on Monday.
Lincoln Farms’ Brisbane flag bearer returned from a break with a terrific trial win, sprinting fast up the home straight to beat four rivals in a 1:54.5 mile rate.
But when he returned to scale he had blood all over his nose and the course vet declared him a bleeder and stewards stood him down for the mandatory three months.
When Dux hosed the horse down, however, he quickly discovered Tommy Lincoln had a big slice out of the bottom of his nose.
“There was that much blood everywhere, all over his nose, you couldn’t see it before that. But when I showed it to the vet she said no, I don’t think it had any bearing, his heart rate was too high.”
It wasn’t until Dux was driving home that he became convinced that Tommy must have hit his head on the mobile gate during the score-up.
“I’ve never had any issues with him bleeding before so I sent a photo of the injury to a couple of vets when I got home and rang the stewards.”
But Dux’s master stroke came when he took his team to the Albion Park races the next day.
“I thought I’ll just go and look at the mobile gate. And sure enough there was blood on No. 4, where he was drawn.
“He had to be already bleeding when they said go. He must have been shaking his head up and down and sliced it.”
Mark Dux … “the evidence was compelling.”Dux said the evidence was compelling - the cut on his nose, blood on the mobile.
“And the blood wouldn’t have been all over his nose if he’d bled from the lungs, it would have been just out of his nostril.
“That, along with how well he trialled, wasn’t the sign of a horse who’d bled.”
Dux said it wasn’t surprising Tommy had a high heart rate after the trial.
“He runs everywhere, he’s not a walker, and he’d just charged off the track. The vet did his heart straight after we clipped him up and he was also probably frightened from the blood, there was so much of it he must have been sucking it in.”
Dux said he thought it was a no-brainer that Tommy’s bleed would be struck out when he submitted his report to the stewards with evidence he’d hit the gate.
Dux suspects Tommy Lincoln is not the first horse to have injured himself on the mobile.
When Dux spoke to the chief steward the official questioned why the numbers on the gate hadn’t been fixed yet.
The way the six-year-old trialled, Dux is hoping Tommy can quickly regain his best form after a two-month break.
In revoking the three-month ban today, stewards ordered only that Dux sumbit a vet report to confirm Tommy Lincoln’s nose had recovered and that the horse trial again before racing, which will probably be on Friday week.
The winner of 16 races, eight in Brisbane, Tommy last raced on April 15 when, from a second line draw, he ran a fast-closing third behind Turn It Up and American Outlaw, beating home subsequent Flashing Red winner Hot And Treacherous .
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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.”
