Lincoln’s Command’s allergy blamed on bush fires but last night’s thunderstorms will help

Even Lincoln Farms’ capable stayer Lincoln’s Command has been affected by Australia’s raging bush fires.

Beaudesert trainer Ben Ahrens was taken aback when Lincoln’s Command starting coughing violently.

“The attack lasted for two days and it took us a while to figure out what was going on.

“It turned out he was having an allergic reaction to the smoke but after we treated him he got over it fairly quickly.”

Ben Ahrens … has never seen anything like the smog.Ahrens said he’s never seen anything like the smog created by Queensland’s fires, dozens of which are still burning out of control.

“The closest would be 25km from us but it’s still not great, the air quality is pretty ordinary.”

Lincoln’s Command was the unlucky one in the stable who suffered the worst, Ahrens said.

“That’s why we dropped him back to a mile last time at Toowoomba as he missed a bit of work.

“He went into the race a little bit fresh and sat a bit closer than we’d have liked, which took the sprint out of him late.

“But he seems good now, I think we’ve got him just about right. We train him out of a paddock and he’s always got his head down (eating).”

Ahrens says while Lincoln’s Command trailed the leader last time and weakened to fourth, the horse will be ridden more quietly on Friday.

Ahrens entered Lincoln’s Command for two meetings, at Doomben and Murwillumbah, just across the border in New South Wales.

“I’m leaning to Doomben, even though it’s a stronger field, purely because it will give him the chance to produce his best.

“It’s a bigger track and it looks like it will be a lot softer.

“They had thunderstorms last night and got a heap of rain. The track at Doomben at the moment is a soft 7, whereas Murwillumbah is a good 4.”

The Doomben race is run for a stake of A$40,000 over 2200 metres and features some in-form class two stayers.

But Ahrens says he was buoyed by the fact that the horse who nosed Lincoln’s Command out of third last time, The Potato Pontiff, franked the form by winning a class three 2000 metre race at Dalby yesterday.

“That gives me some confidence to give him his crack in town so we can see what he can do.”

As part of an invited riders’ origin series, Lincoln’s Command has been assigned a rider and loses no caste with the talented Dwayne Dunn in the saddle.

Lincoln’s Command races at Doomben at 5.34pm on Friday.