Captain Nemo, once so quiet, has suddenly realised he is a colt, and it’s not helping his racing. PHOTO: Dan Costello.
No, no Nemo. Mark delivers ultimatum: Last chance tomorrow or it’s off to the vet for you
By Barry Lichter • 17 April 2023
Captain Nemo is in for the unkindest cut of all unless he blows his opposition away at Albion Park on Tuesday evening.
After placing in only one of his last eight starts, trainer Mark Dux says Captain Nemo has run out of time to show he can still perform as a colt.
Tuesday’s ninth race is his last chance and, as easily the highest rated runner in the field, Dux says the Nemo of old would be right in it, outside draw and all.
Rated 75, Nemo gets into the up to 70 rating race with concession claiming junior Paige Bevan in the cart.
Paige Bevan, who has 29 winners to her credit, drives Captain Nemo on Tuesday.It’s easily the weakest field he’s tackled in the last few months but Dux isn’t holding his breath for a change of form.
“I just don’t think that he’s racing they way she should be. His work has been good enough to think he should race well but you take him to the track and he lets you down.
“I know they went hard last week (1:53 mile rate) but he was gone way too far from home. It was like he didn’t put in.”
Dux says Nemo has turned into a real colt at home, screaming every time he takes him somewhere - to the paddock, the walker, out of the paddock, it’s non stop.
“He’s carrying on all the time which is not helping the cause. In the early days he was never like this. He didn’t know he was a colt when he got here and he was quiet as anything for the first 12 months. Then all of a sudden late last year he started carrying on like a pork chop.
“We’re definitely going to geld him if we’re not happy with him tomorrow. He’s already booked in. I’m sure he’ll be better as a gelding once we eliminate all those things.
“Unless he blows them away, I don’t think we have any options.”
You only have to look at how some of the horses Nemo used to beat, or finish alongside, have progressed in the last few months to realise Nemo isn’t putting in, he says.
Dux has, however, made a few changes this week which he hopes might help.
“We’ve got pull down blinds on him - he wore them last week but Angus (Garrard) didn’t activate them because he was beaten so soon.
“I’ve tried training him more steadily this week, with no fast work and I’ll tell Paige to drive him quietly early and see if he can run home.”
Captain Nemo races at 7.47pm NZ time at Albion Park on Tuesday.
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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.”
