Lincoln Wave powers to the line on debut at Alexandra Park on Friday night. PHOTO: Megan Liefting/Race Images.
Lincoln Wave super and Sammy Lincoln super unlucky - two three-year-olds worth following
By Barry Lichter • 24 January 2026
You could have forgiven co-trainer Ray Green for any what-might-have-beens after Lincoln Wave’s decisive debut win at Auckland on Friday night.
But Green and his partner Nathan Delany are only looking ahead with the powerful colt, derby aspirations now replacing what could so easily have been two-year-old riches.
“We’ve waited a while for that,” said Green after the Downbytheseaside colt spanked his rivals, leading all the way and cruising home by two and three-quarter lengths.
“He could have done that six months ago and I was pretty confident either he or Sammy Lincoln would win, they’re both classy horses.”
Lincoln Wave looked set to make his mark in the early two-year-old Young Guns series 12 months ago when Green’s wife Debbie detected some filling in one of his legs.
Scans and X-rays detected a roughened appearance of the two sesamoid bones that sit at the back of the fetlock joint, the warning signs of sesamoiditis.
“If we’d pressed on, we could have risked it all so we did the right thing by him and turned him out for a long spell.”
Great horseman and educator Maurice McKendry behind Lincoln Wave.Lincoln Wave came back stronger and coltier, pushing the patience of Lincoln Farms’ stable workers.
“He knows he’s a colt - he thinks he rules the roost - but we let him get away with a bit of bullshit as it keeps him brave.”
But, as driver Maurice McKendry found out on Friday night, Lincoln Wave might be stroppy but he has a lot to learn.
“He doesn’t know what he’s doing yet,” McKendry said.
“He’s green as, but he had plenty left.”
And McKendry is just the man to extract the best from the three-year-old, Green declaring he’s the right person to turn Lincoln Wave into a racehorse.
“Maurice is a great horseman - he educates them - and once he’s driven them a few times, they really come to it.
“We’ll just keep poking him out there - he should win again next week - and I’m pretty sure we’ll see him and Sammy Lincoln in the Sires’ Stakes and derbies later in the season.”
John Street gives Friday night’s trophy to one of his partners in Lincoln Wave, ATC steward Phil Kelly.That statement was warmly received by the Lincoln Wave partnership of Lincoln Farms owners John and Lynne Street, their business manager Ian Middleton, ATC stewards David Turner and Phil Kelly, and Paul Wyatt.
The crew behind Sammy Lincoln were also buzzing after he finished a very unlucky third behind his stablemate.
The big Always B Miki gelding was wiped out on the first turn when Everndon’s driver Tony Cameron shifted in on him, checking him into a break and locking wheels.
Back in the running and held up in traffic turning for home, Sammy Lincoln made up excellent ground for driver Harrison Orange when clear.
More news in Harness
Prince Lincoln spearheads record-sized team for Lincoln Farms at Cambridge on Friday
Ray cautions punters with no lead this time for Jekyll and Hyde colt Prince Lincoln
Two (not so) secret weapons help Lincoln Farms to $29,287 payday at Cambridge
Deb dresses her latest ‘Copy’ weanling in white and he delivers a Major coup
Our runners this week: How our trainer rates them
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Spirited Belle
4.46pm
Delany: “I saw she’d been punted but somebody must know something we don’t as I’ve been working her myself and, while she feels all right and hasn’t put the boot in like at Auckland, I think she’ll need the run. She hasn’t got any high speed but feels like she will stay. She has improved a bit but I’d be surprised if she won.”
Race 1: Lincoln Maree
4.46pm
“It’s always hard from these draws but she’s a tough mare who will make her own luck at some stage. She’s going well enough - her drivers have all been happy - and she’s a little warrior who tries like hell.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.12pm
“He’s only two and very inexperienced but he feels like a good colt and there’s a lot of improvement in him. He certainly caught a lot of people’s attention last time. I don’t know how good he is yet but he’ll be right there.”
Race 2: Prince Lincoln
5.12pm
“If he can lead without having to do too much work I can’t see anything beating him. I thought he went great last start. He pressed the winner hard ’til the corner then just flattened out in the run home, but he had every reason to do that after all the work he’d done.”
Race 4: Spirit Of God
6.12pm
“She’s been undone by bad draws. If she led easily from three she’d be hard to beat as she’s a good front-runner.”
Race 4: Spirited Peggy
6.12pm
“We’ve had her for only two weeks but she’s seven now and has had her chance to win one. She has a bit of speed but I think she gets pulling so we’ve got the Hidez (compression) hood on her and plugged her ears up.”
Race 6: Copy N Paste
7.10pm
“We won’t see the best of him for another six months. He’s been a slow developing horse but is improving all the time and getting stronger.”
Race 6: Jessie Lincoln
7.10pm
“If I was having a bet on one of them in the race it would be her. She deserves to win one. Her last two have been really good - she just ran into one who was a bit slicker last time in Major Copy.”
Race 6: Lincoln Dealer
7.10pm
“He’s a bit one-dimensional - you’ve got to feed him track and let him run - so the second row draw is a big handicap. To his credit I was surprised he finished so close last time after all the work he did. When he gets a decent draw and crosses them they’ll know they’re at the races. He’s got a big motor and tries hard.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.08pm
“She clawed her way to the front last time but had nothing left at the finish. That won’t happen this time and she should lead easily from one.”
Race 8: Angelic Copy
8.08pm
“She’s had terrible draws but has been going good races. The others last time were just better than her but this is a big drop in class. With the right trip she could get some of it at huge odds.”
Race 9: Sugar Ray Lincoln
8.35pm
“He’s not quick away from a stand but he won’t muff it completely. He steps from the front line and Peter Ferguson was quite happy with his last run.”
Race 9: Lincoln Wave
8.35pm
“He bombed the stand the first time but to be fair all those horses were rushing up at him from the back and that panicked him a bit. He’s on 10 metres this time so that won’t happen.”
