Zachary Butcher is sitting still as Sugar Apple cruises to the line at Cambridge. PHOTO: Chanelle Lawson.
Easy as pie for Sugar Apple, but first-time owner was too busy in the kitchen to watch
By Barry Lichter • 13 August 2021
The one person most excited about Sugar Apple’s win at Cambridge on Thursday night missed seeing the race.
Matt Hooper, restaurant manager at Lone Star Alexandra Park, was too busy working to see the hollow win, his very first as an owner.
But the good news was relayed to him by Lone Star owner Trevor Casey, in whose colours the horse raced, and who scored his first winner in a Lincoln Farms’ partnership.
“Matt was very excited after watching a replay of the race,” Casey said. “The horse was far too good.”
Trevor Casey … Sugar Apple was his first winner with Lincoln Farms.Casey has shares in three Lincoln Farms’ youngsters, including Thursday’s Cambridge runner-up Nirvana Franco, and Next To Me, an unraced brother to his former tough pacer Maxim.
Sugar Apple, a half brother to Lincoln Farms’ Queensland Derby winner American Dealer, was never out of third gear in his win, Zachary Butcher sitting still in the cart as he cruised to a one and a half length win in a moderate 2:44.3.
From the moment Butcher took the Sweet Lou colt to the front, the result was never in doubt, said trainer Ray Green.
“It was a glorified workout for him,” said Green of Sugar Apple who only had to run 57.7 and 28.2 for his closing sectionals.
“Zac said he was never going to get beaten.”
Also in the Sugar Apple partnership with Lincoln Farms’ owners John and Lynne Street are the familiar names of American Dealer’s owners Gordon Banks and Marc Hanover, Grant Dickey, Duncan Chisholm’s Chisso’s & Wack Syndicate, Ian Kedzlie and Canterbury’s Green Machine syndicate.
Earlier in the night Nirvana Franco ran a debut second, momentarily looking the winner when she took the passing lane in the run home, before being swamped by Tony Herlihy’s debutante A Little Side Hustle.
“She was very green,” Green said. “Zac said she didn’t really know what was going on.
“It will help her that she didn’t win. She has a lot to learn and it would have been too tough for her in the next grade.”
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Tyson
6.59pm
“He was tough again in winning last week. He’s trained on well, is in good shape, and should be right in it.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
6.59pm
“He’s finally getting his act together - he’s gone three good races in a row - and seemingly turned the corner. We’ve had a lot of (vet) work done on him, his feet in particular, and it’s paid off. There’s not much between him and Tyson.”
Race 5: Rivergirl Bella
7.23pm
“She’ll need everything to go her way from the draw. But she’s got a bit of speed. She’s getting there. She wasn’t very strong before and wasn’t tracking too well, but she’s driving right now.”
Race 5: Lincoln Linda
7.23pm
“She’s had a few issues, mostly mental ones, and is still a bit of a handful. It wasn’t very pretty last week but we’re slowly getting her under control. The outside draw might actually help her.”
Race 5: Angelic Copy
7.23pm
“She needs only a half decent trip to feature. She got held up a little bit in the straight at a crucial time last week and that was that.”
Race 6: Prince Lincoln
7.49pm
“He’s drawn the best of ours in three. He got cheated for a run last week. It’s hard to know where he’d have finished without that.”
Race 6: Lincoln Lover
7.49pm
“Ferg reckoned if he’d been able to hold up in the trail last week he would have won. He was very bullish about how he’d gone. The draw’s no help but he can do a bit of work. He’s an honest little guy who saves his best for when the money’s up on racenight.”
Race 6: Johnny Lincoln
7.49pm
“He got a bit keen last week but he should be a lot better this time. He’s still learning and he’s a slow learner. When he does things correctly he’s a pretty nice horse. Hopefully he can get a suck into it from the second row draw.”
