Hood comes off Whats Up The Hill giving him an upset chance at $16 tonight at Auckland
By Barry Lichter • 10 May 2025
A crucial gear change could be just what erratic trotter Whats Up The Hill needs to upset at Auckland on Saturday night.
Co-trainer Ray Green is expecting a much better performance in the final race from the well bred three-year-old who broke on the first bend then switched into a pace for the fourth time in seven starts last week and finished 85 lengths down the track.
“We’ve taken the hood off him, it was shutting him down too much and making him too blase.”
Trialled at Pukekohe without the hood the day after his last race, Whats Up The Hill trotted perfectly, driver Zachary Butcher reported.
“It fired him up a bit and he left the mobile like a monster,” Green said. “He started from the outside of the gate and Zac reckoned he could have led easily.”
Whats Up The Hill contested the workout solely to get his ticket from behind the mobile arm so he could race in tonight’s Metro Trotters’ Heat.
Whats Up The Hill, centre, does everything right to score at Auckland two starts back. PHOTO: Megan Liefting/Race Images.And, against pacers, he cruised up to the leader, his four-win stablemate Lincoln La Moose, before being eased out of the heat.
“When he trots, he trots well,” Green said. “He’s a lovely horse and he’s only young. He just needs to go out there and poke round some more to get experience.”
Green knows it’s hard to tip a horse whose record, while limited, is littered with errors.
“But he’s always a chance. He’d be one of the main chances tonight if he did things right.”
Whats Up The Hill, raced by Lone Star’s Trevor Casey, his parther Kate Marriott and Lincoln Farms owners John and Lynne Street, is unwanted in the fixed odds betting at $16 and $3.40.
But he showed plenty of promise in his previous start at Auckland when he outfinished the well regarded Hillbilly, a $4.50 rival tonight.
Butcher has his second racenight drive on the horse tonight.
More news in Harness
Johnny Lincoln’s big ticker will stand to him in the States and Lover’s also sold to Aussie
No Jumals to beat this time at the Park so Ray’s looking for Lincoln Wave to roll in
Lincoln Linda best of the night at Cambridge - she has the engine to cross Soul Artist
Cheapie Johnny Lincoln a “proper” racehorse who can foot it with the Million bluebloods
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.44pm
“She did well here last time as she had to do a bit to get to the lead and she dug in and fought on. She’s certainly a chance if she repeats that effort.”
Race 4: Lincoln Linda
7.09pm
“I thought she went super last time after doing a lot of work. She can do that because she has an engine and is tough. She’s a bit one-dimensional - you have to turn her loose early - but from the two draw she should be able to lead and that’s where she does her best work.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.34pm
“I think he’s a bit stronger after his spell. It’s not a great field - most will die on that mark - and I don’t see a problem with the standing start as he’s nicely gaited. He could be marginally unfit after three months out but he’s done quite a bit of work and I can see him going a half-decent race.”
Race 6: Lincoln Maree
7.59pm
“She had every chance last time but I can’t see why she won’t go well again. She’s as honest as they come and tries like hell.”
Race 7: The Night Fox
8.29pm
“You’d think he’d lead easily from the inside. He’s had bad draws and still got the money, so I’m sure he’ll go another good race. I’m surprised they sold him so cheaply. He’s better than people think.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Lincoln Wave
5.09pm
“With the trip he got in the Harness Million I thought he’d have run on a lot better. But he was still a bit short on fitness and sometimes we can expect too much of these horses, he was racing the best, after all. It’s a big drop in grade here and he’s a pretty fair horse.”
Race 1: Leo Lincoln
5.09pm
“He’s an honest sort who’s in a good space but he won’t get a wonderful trip from the outside of the gate this time so I’m not holding my breath.”
Race 3: Sammy Lincoln
6.04pm
“He’s training down well but you never know what he’s going to do. You think you’ve got him sorted and he does something silly. But we know if the real Sammy turned up, he’d be very hard to beat as he’s got a lot of speed.”
Race 5: Prince Lincoln
7.05pm
“He’s another where you don’t know which one will turn up but we’ve gelded him since his last run, so we’ll see if that helps. He trained well the other day.”
