Lincoln Thunder primed for lightning run at first synthetic race meeting on Wednesday

Stephen Marsh labels Lincoln Thunder a strong top three chance on Wednesday when the Cambridge club will christen its new synthetic surface with capacity fields.

Marsh, who trains the four-year-old for Lincoln Farms’ owners John and Lynne Street, Ian Middleton and leading harness horsemen Tony Herlihy and Brent Mangos, will saddle 17 runners, the most he has lined up at one meeting since he started training.

And he says Lincoln Thunder is typical of the horses who will benefit from the new facility.

“Lincoln Thunder sank in the mud at Te Aroha in his first start for me, he didn’t go a yard. If they hadn’t been racing here on Wednesday I would have put him in the paddock for three weeks, we’d have been wasting our time.

“I’ve changed tack with quite a few horses, one would have been retired had it not been for the synthetic track and others are still in work only because I don’t have to ask them to slug their guts out training and racing on heavy tracks.”

Synthetic trial winners are converting their form on raceday.With ballots in most races and competitive fields throughout the nine-race card, Marsh says plenty of other trainers have obviously followed suit.

“It makes perfect sense and when we get deeper into winter I reckon the synthetic will become more and more popular, it could take off like mad.”

Marsh says naturally there will be some people who will be nervous about racing on the new all-weather surface.

“For the first couple of trials meetings we ran here not many horses were entered but I reckon more and more people have confidence in it now.

“All it’s taken is for people to see winners coming from out of the trials. The day the Te Rapa trials were called off and they came here, a lot of good horses galloped and that really helped people who might have had reservations.

“Lincoln Thunder likes working on it and he’s trialled well here too so that will play into his hands.”

The Cambridge synthetic track is an 1800 metre triangle.When Lincoln Thunder won his 950 metre trial on the synthetic track on March 16 Marsh says he kept up a strong gallop right through the line.

And the horse franked his liking for better going at Taupo on April 27 when he scored in a 1225 metre trial.

“He should go very well on Wednesday. He’s drawn perfectly in three so should jump and put himself right there.

“I’ll be disappointed if he’s not in the top three or at least not beaten far. His work’s been good and I can’t fault him. Even if he doesn’t win on Wednesday, I like him. He should have a few wins in him.”

Lincoln Thunder showed promise for Nigel Tiley in his early preparation but needed surgery to remove bone fragments from both knees in March.

With Tiley downsizing his operation, the horse went to Marsh who has done such a great job for Lincoln Farms with Lincoln King.

Marsh says while it’s hard to know for sure, he doubts Cambridge’s new track will be solely a front-runners’ paradise like many small polytracks elsewhere.

“It’s cambered so well I think horses will be able to swoop. At the trials they’ve been able to come from everywhere. I don’t think it will be a straight leader biased track. If they’re good enough, horses should be able to come from anywhere.”

The $13 million track, which received $6.5 million in funding from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, has an 1800 metre circumference and home straight of a little more than 300 metres.

The new parade ring at Cambridge.It will host 12 Wednesday meetings over the next four months, racing basically every fortnight, and the club has been busy improving its infrastructure, including a new parade ring.

Two big marquees and bars have been set up to house what is expected to be a healthy crowd on Wednesday.

“Being unique we could get a great walk-up crowd,” says Marsh. “A lot of people are looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be great.”

The Cambridge club will treat winning owners to:

* A framed photo of their horse winning.

* A feed manger compliments of Magnum Industries

* Two tickets to the IRT Harness Jewels on June 6 and

* A bottle of Deutz.