Liberal Arden keeps his impeccable formline going for 91-year-old owner
By Barry Lichter • 1 January 2019
Sir Lincoln four-year-old Liberal Arden is proving to be a lot of fun for 91-year-old Timaru owner Ken Piercy.
Since Piercy and his wife Audrey sent their horse north to Arna Donnelly’s Cambridge stable he has failed to pay a dividend only once in 10 starts.
And with the confidence the horse is getting with each outing don’t expect his rare form line to be spoiled any time soon.
Liberal Arden’s win at Cambridge on December 28 capped a string of six seconds and two thirds, a regular little eftpos card whom Donnelly calls a “super little horse.’’
And she is expecting more of the same when he runs again at Cambridge this Friday where as a rating 52 horse he looks well placed to win the rating 42 to 53 fifth race.
“He’s doing a great job. Nothing fazes him. He comes home, licks his bowl clean and is full of beans the next morning. And with every race he seems to get better.’’
Liberal Arden started out down south with Terry and Glenys Chmiel where the big fields were against him.
But since he started racing in the north in October he hasn’t looked back, his blinding gate speed no doubt his biggest asset, says Donnelly.
“If he draws the font line generally he can lead from anywhere,’’ says Donnelly.
“And while he often finds one to beat him he’s never gone a bad race. And I think he’s getting better as his confidence builds.’’
Safely through Cambridge on Friday Donnelly is likely to try the horse on the grass at Te Aroha on Saturday week.
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Sir Lincoln Top 10
Did you know…
1. CUP DAY BIRTH: It was preordained Sir Lincoln would be a headliner when he was born just hours before the 2006 New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington. Three years later to the day, and almost the hour, he annihilated his rivals on the same course in the Sires’ Stakes Final.
2. AGE NO BARRIER: In his second last race start, at the age of six, Sir Lincoln paced the fastest 1700 metres in New Zealand history, 2:00.5, beating Gold Ace and clocking a mile rate of 1:54 at Alexandra Park. Champion pacer Elsu held the previous record at 2:01.1.
3. ON THREE LEGS: Sir Lincoln ran his last race virtually on three legs, when second to Terror To Love in an Interdominion heat at Auckland. He had to be pulled out of the Melbourne series, and retired, when found to have a subluxated pastern joint - basically his ankle joint was dislocated.
4. SWIFT GOLDEN MILE: Sir Lincoln’s fastest mile was recorded in the 2012 Group III Golden Mile at Menangle in Sydney when he was nosed out by Captain Joy in 1:51.4. He was known by the name Lincoln Royal in Australia.
5. AT THE REINS: One for the trivia fans - how many drivers did Sir Lincoln have in his 57-start career? Maurice McKendry was Linc’s pilot throughout his career but he was MIA four times when the horse was handled by James Stormont, Ken Barron and Blake Fitzpatrick (twice).
6. WINNERS KEEP COMING: In only his third season with runners on the track, Sir Lincoln has already sired the winners of 30 races despite having limited numbers to represent him. Last season in New Zealand alone he had 16 winners from only 39 starters and this term he already has six winners from just 18 starters.
7. SOMEBEACH SOME RAP: Breeding buffs made a beeline for Sir Lincoln after superstar racehorse and stallion Somebeachsomewhere had to be put down with cancer. Sir Lincoln is 7/8th bred on the same cross as Somebeachsomewhere - by Mach Three out of a Beach Towel mare who is in turn out of a Cam Fella mare.
8. DISCOUNT FOR LOYALTY: Broodmare owners are returning to Sir Lincoln in droves. Taken by the attractive foals he is leaving, many book straight back to the Alabar-based sire and take advantage of Lincoln Farms’ loyalty scheme which cuts his service fee in half to just $1250 plus GST.
9. TIME BEST FRIEND: Sir Lincoln’s progeny are mirroring the sire’s own start on the racetrack, benefitting from a little time to mature. The best the horse himself could manage as a two-year-old was one third from four starts but he was a different animal at three, winning four of his first five starts.
10. MEGASTAR’S FREAK DEATH: A freak accident claimed the life of valuable broodmare Lincoln’s Megastar, a full sister to Sir Lincoln. The mare, who opened her career with a nine and a half length walloping at Auckland, was retired after six wins, but left only one foal. She was killed when crushed by a fallen tree in a violent storm. Woodlands Stud has another full sister in two-year-old Moonlighting who is in training with Ray Green.