Lincoln’s Girl can give them a fright but jury’s still out for Green

Lincoln’s Girl is primed to give her rivals a fright at Cambridge on Thursday night but trainer Ray Green is reserving judgement on her potential.

The Sir Lincoln filly draws three in the seventh race, pitched against mostly higher rated rivals, and is having her first run for nearly five months.

But Green has given her five workouts this preparation in each of the last five weeks, keen to ensure she’s very fit when she lines up.

“She’s a big filly who can make it hard work for herself by over-racing. I didn’t want her to go into a race half-cocked and do herself some harm.

“But the more work she’s got, the more settled she’s become.

“She’s had plenty of time to find her feet now, she’s a lot stronger, and Zac was very happy with her at the workouts last Saturday.’’

Driven very quietly by Butcher, who snagged Lincoln’s Girl to the back of the field, the filly was not produced until inside the final 200 metres when she unleashed a big sprint to finish close up in fourth.

“She’s got some speed,’’ says Green. “I’d just like to see her beat something of note before I start labelling her as anything special.’’

Lincoln’s Girl’s form line looks pretty impressive with a nose second and two wins from only four starts but Green says that was only two-year-old form and, while she clocked 1:56.7 in winning a mile at Auckland, she was all out and beat nothing.

“She’s a bit like her brother Lincoln Road, who we’ve just sold. Initially he was one-dimensional but towards the end he was quite versatile and I think this filly will be no different.

“The more we race her, the better she will get.

“She’s a chance on Thursday but if Rain Man was on top of his game, he’d be the one to beat.’’

Stephen Reid’s Rain Man has been trialling well at Pukekohe in recent weeks and boasts form against much stronger fields last campaign.

Not holding breath about Vinibaka

Lincoln Farms’ only other runner at Cambridge, Vinibaka, draws six in the fifth race, and Green reckons his best chance will be to go forward.

“He had a beautiful trip last week at Auckland and either wasn’t ready for it or wasn’t good enough.

“We’ll see how he goes this time but I’m not holding my breath.

“He’s better off going forward. He’s done his best work at the trials on the front end.’’