Man Of Action lives up to his name - his blazing gate speed a good weapon for Brisbane
By Barry Lichter • 13 October 2020
Trainer Al Barnes is hoping he can get a few more horses like Man Of Action from Lincoln Farms after his gutsy all-the-way win at Albion Park today.
In just his third start in Queensland, Man Of Action showed a torrent of gate speed to claim the front and lead all the way at the good odds of $6.
“He’s just the right type of horse to race here,” said Barnes. “He has gate speed and a bit of heart.
“And he’s honest, so he’s going to do a good job here.”
Man Of Action won only twice in New Zealand from 19 starts but he was a consistent placegetter, form which he is already franking in Brisbane.
Man Of Action fights bravely to stave off Our Balou and the fast-finishing Soho Tsunami.At his first start he led until one stride from home and at second time of asking he was held up in the trail by the weakening leader before powering home for second.
Today, driver Hayden Barnes took bad luck out of play when he put the accelerator down out of the gate and easily crossed the three horses inside him.
“That’s where you’ve got to be at the moment with the way the track’s playing. They’re just not winning from the back.”
Man Of Action got away with relatively sedate sectionals, running only 57.1 for his last 800 and 29.2 for the 400, but his fast 27.9 third quarter took his rivals out of play.
And with the mile rate for the 2138 metres only 1:58.3, it made it hard for the late closers to catch him, parked runner Our Balou holding second, a neck away, with a head to the fast-finishing Soho Tsunami.
“It was a nice win and Hayden was happy, he said the horse put in well.
“He’ll go through the grades and win his share here.”
That will be good news to the big group which races the four-year-old which includes John and Lynne Street, the Chissos & Wack Syndicate, Steve Beckett, Kevin Bell, Michael Brereton, Marilyn Brown, Margaret Rabbitt, the Green Machine Racing Syndicate and Athenry Syndicate.
* Resuming stable star Northview Hustler has drawn badly, one from the outside in Saturday night’s seventh race, with state champion Colt Thirty One outside him.
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Ray’s comments
Wednesday at Cambridge
Race 3: Spiritual Bliss
1.10pm
“You can’t fault what she’s done up here and she’s trained on really well since Manawatu. She seems to have a good motor and can carry her speed a long way. It’s a bit of a step-up on Wednesday, and she’s drawn out a bit, but she should be right in the fray.”
Race 4: Lincoln Lover
1.45pm
“It’s a huge drop in class for him on what he’s been racing. The Purdon horse Crippa Max looks the one to beat on his trial but I’m picking we’ll finish in the first three at worst. He’s very honest and does nothing wrong.”
Race 6: Lincoln Downs
2.55pm
“She got skittled early last time when one galloped in front of her, and that didn’t help. It would be nice to see her get a good trip, with no incidents, and see what she can do. She’s no superstar but she tries hard.”
Race 9: Leo Lincoln
4.31pm
“It’s his first race for more than four months and I’m picking he’ll need the run. It was a toss-up whether we went to the trials, but he’d probably have had no opposition, so it made sense to drop him in here. He’s training well and seems in good shape but whatever he does, he’ll improve on.”
