Captain Nemo rallies bravely to hold off Optical Illusion, inner, at Palmerston North on Tuesday. PHOTO: Royden Williams.
Gutsy Captain Nemo’s a real lefty leaving Ray in a tricky dilemma over his future
By Barry Lichter • 17 March 2021
For the second time in a week Captain Nemo showed real grit to win, sitting parked to bag the feature race at Palmerston North on Tuesday night.
Just five days earlier the strapping Captaintreacherous three-year-old paced a huge race to score at Cambridge after being trapped three wide for much of the race, with no cover over the last lap.
But while Lincoln Farms’ trainer Ray Green says he can’t fault the wins, he also knows that the horse can’t keep copping such hard runs.
“You can’t keep driving him like that and expect to get away with it. Sooner or later he needs to get a trip or lead.
“His last two runs have been great but it will be hard to sit parked against better horses. There’s a vast gap between the Cambridge and Manawatu horses and the ones he meets at Auckland.
“While the opposition is also considerably weaker down there he’s also a different horse left-handed.
David Butcher brings Captain Nemo back to scale at Palmerston North on Tuesday. PHOTO: Royden Williams.“Now that he’s a rating 57, going back to Auckland may be a necessary evil but I’m not sure if that’s the way to go.
“Initially he was hitting a knee there but we rectified that. In his last couple of runs he hasn’t got on his knees and he doesn’t even wear a spreader there now.”
Green has always had a good opinion of Captain Nemo and earlier on rated him a potential derby horse.
“The raw ability is there but he just lacks a yard of speed. He’s a nice horse but he’s not up to the topliners and sooner or later he’s going to have to front up to them.
“His future could lie in Australia where they can place horses much more easily. But I think he’s better than a Brisbane horse and I don’t know if he’d be suited up there because he doesn’t have gate speed and gets back. Maybe we’ll have to sell him.”
The $10,850 Captain Nemo has earned in the last week took his career tally to $44,198 from just 24 starts.
And his preference for left-handed racing is borne out by the stats - from seven goes that way round he has notched four wins, two seconds and a fourth for Lincoln Farms owners John and Lynne Street, Ian Middleton, the Green Machine Syndicate, Grant Dickey, Peter Dougherty and Gareth Paddison who was gifted a share for finishing runner-up in last year’s Wairakei Invitational golf tourney.
More news in Harness
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Partners and pedigree made Johnny Lincoln’s win special - but where was everyone?
Shunt and tangled tail hamper our Johnny - why he can win Friday’s Lincoln Farms Pace
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Nathan’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Im Not The Maid
5.14pm
“She went pretty well last week considering they came a fast last half (56.3) and she sat parked from the 800. She’s back to the amateur grade, and should get a good run from the two draw, so hopefully we can get a bit of cash.”
Race 4: Dreams Of Eric
6.38pm
“She didn’t handle the right-handed bends at Auckland last week (galloping at the 300) so we’ll stick to Cambridge from now on. There’s a bit of gate speed in the race so Harry (Harrison Orange) should be able to sit in somewhere. I think he’s a good chance to run top three.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Leo Lincoln
5.59pm
“He’s racing very well. He would have run second last week (to American Me) had he not spooked at the winning post. These are tidy horses he’s racing against but he’s holding his own.”
Race 1: Kevin Kline
5.59pm
“He’ll go better back to a mobile start. He did well to finish so close last week after a slow start than having to do all the donkey work when parked for the last lap. Maurice really likes him because he just puts him into cruise control and he keeps going.”
Race 3: Lincoln Downs
6.58pm
“She’s not as good as the other filly but some lift their game when the money’s up so maybe she can pick up a cheque.”
Race 3: Lincoln’s Spice
6.58pm
“She looks a pretty decent chance of winning. She’s a real little tradesman, does nothing wrong, is easy to handle, is a nice drive, tries hard, is great gaited and has the potential to get stronger.”
Race 5: Tyson
7.51pm
“We found out he raced with a virus last time. The next morning snot was pouring out his nose and that’s why he didn’t finish it off as well as we expected. He only whacked away in the run home. With that gone, he should race better.”
Race 5: Johnny Lincoln
7.51pm
“I think he’ll be competitive and he’s the best of ours in the race. He won well last week and has trained on well. He’s promising. I couldn’t go as far as to say he’s a classic colt yet but we’ll find out soon enough.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.51pm
“He’s doing my head in. He had no excuse for breaking last week. Maurice (McKendry) didn’t blame the wet track. He said he was gliding along, travelling beautifully, when for no apparent reason he put in big steps. I’ll put a hood on him this time to see if it’s a nervous issue.”
Race 8: The Rascal
9.23pm
“All going well, he should win what is a poor maiden field. He’s elevated himself from the transfer list and is going well now. He doesn’t have huge gate speed, so he may not lead but he should get a good trip from one. On paper, he’s our best chance of the night.”
