Millions day comes early for plucky Ray: They’re ready to put me back together again
By Barry Lichter • 14 February 2023
Trainer Ray Green might have to watch Friday’s Harness Millions night in hospital but he wasn’t expecting to have to make any victory speeches at Cambridge anyway.
Green, 77, goes back into Middlemore Hospital tomorrow for a colostomy reversal operation, when surgeons will remove his stoma bag and reconnect his upper and lower colon.
It’s a week short of three months since Green was kicked in the stomach by a young horse, surgeons taking seven hours to repair the damage in “a touch and go” operation.
And while he’s had his ups and downs since, with dehydration especially, recent scans showed he’d healed sufficiently for the reversal procedure.
“They’re ready to put me back together again - they actually brought the operation forward,” Green said.
“I’ll have to spend two or three days in hospital but I’m happy to be getting rid of that bag.”
Green, who has been on light duties since the accident, has played doctor himself this last week, trying to discover why his $200,000 Harness Millions Three-year-old contender Frankie Major raced so poorly at Cambidge last Thursday.
Frankie Major enjoyed a perfect one-one trail but was under pressure and going backwards 500 metres from home and beat only one home.
“I don’t know what was wrong with him last time but he definitely wasn’t himself. He’s much better than that.
“We did a whole lot of tests and he seems fine, his blood was perfect. Whether he fibrillated again, I don’t know.”
Green accepts it will be hard to win Friday night’s feature against topliner Merlin and the “best of the best” but says, from the pole, Frankie should get every chance.
“He’s got a bit of gate speed so he should hold up and get a good trip.”
Frisco Bay early defection
Friday night sees the first of the Young Guns heats for two-year-olds and while Lincoln Farms has two in the field, only Obadiah Dragon will run.
Like Green, his own horse Frisco Bay, unbeaten in three workouts and trials, has been in the wars recently and is recovering from a foot abscess.
Obadiah Dragon going through his paces for Andre Poutama at Pukekohe. PHOTO: Trish Dunell.Obadiah Dragon, who is owned by Lincoln Farms’ business manager Ian Middleton and two of his mates Paul Humphries and Ian Harris, faces a tall order from eight on the gate.
“Drawing eight in a full field isn’t good for any horse let alone one having its first start. I’m a bit worried he might want to smoke the gate too as he’s led in each of his three workouts and trials. So he might be a bit too keen early.”
Green, however, said in a field of unraced babies, being out wide could actually be an advantage.
“Few of those horses drawn inside him will have gone as fast as they’ll be asked to when leaving the gate on Friday and it would take only one to make a mistake to see them all get scattered.
“He’ll need a lot of luck but, if he gets a good trip, he’s a chance to get some money. He’s a nice horse and I can’t fault what he’s done, he’s trialling nicely and he ran his last quarter in 27 last Friday.”
Obadiah Dragon has placed in each of his three prep runs, run down late into third last week by the Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan-trained Cold Chisel, who has the coveted pole on Friday night.
“He’ll go round as best he can and we’ll see what happens. But we won’t be holding our breath. We’re not expecting him to win.”
By new sire Fear The Dragon out of Lillian, Obadiah Dragon was a $27,000 yearling at the Christchurch sale and is from a good Tuapeka Lodge family which has produced, among others, Caesars Folly (35 wins), Galactic Star (32 wins) and Tuapeka Tiz (23 wins).
Best winning chance
The stable’s best winning chance looks to be Riverman Sam who drops well down in grade in the third race.
Though he has a sticky six draw over the mobile 1700 metres, Green is expecting further improvement from the horse on his excellent third last week.
Racing a much tougher line-up, in a rating 59 to 81 2200 metres, Riverman Sam trailed then raced three pegs before mounting a strong stretch challenge to Chimichurri and Rough And Ready.
On Friday night, in a rating 41 to 59 race, Green says the horse will be hard to beat.
“He tied up on us a bit a couple of weeks ago and he’ll improve further this time.”
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.”
