Simply Sam downs Villacci, outer, and Dangerzone at Shepparton on Friday night.
Ray: Simply Sam in the zone and ready to take on Australia’s best three-year-olds
By Barry Lichter • 17 September 2022
Simply Sam might have won by only a head at Shepparton on Friday night but trainer Ray Green says he’s in the zone for his first big test next week.
And only after Friday night’s A$25,000 Withers Classic (mobile 2180m) at Kilmore will he know how the horse stacks up against his three-year-old opposition.
“Next week he’ll have to front up to all the good ones so it will be a bit of a derby dress rehearsal for him.
“He won’t improve unless he races equal or better opposition and I think he will, he’s right in the zone.”
Green says Simply Sam’s narrow winning margin at Shepparton was no knock on his ability.
“He won well, even though by only a head. He does only what he has to - his last three wins have been by a head, half a neck and a neck, that’s the sort of horse he is.
“The leader and parked horse were trying to walk and outsprint everyone else last night. They only crawled in the middle stages, with a second quarter of 32.1, and I thought he got home really well.”
The closing sectionals of 55.8 and 27 set up an overall mile rate of 1:56.4 for the 1690 metres, the second fastest on the night.
It was Simply Sam’s sixth win from just 13 starts for Lincoln Farms’ owners John and Lynne Street, Kim Miller, Robert and Donna Best, Priscilla Edmunds, the Red And Blue Syndicate and the Green Machine Racing Syndicate.
Green says one more belt tightener and Simply Sam will be ready for the A$24,000 Victoria Derby heats (2760 metres) on October 1 before hopefully qualifying for the A$200,000 Final a week later.
“It’s all about timing and the horse seems to be coming right at the right time.”
* Green has yet to hear if stewards have finalised their investigations into the Holloway Classic eight days ago when Simply Sam was hemmed in for the entire race and the tactics of both his driver Nathan Jack and that of a rival, Allan McDonough, were questioned.
Stewards also opened an inquiry into an altercation that took place after the race between Green’s host Anton Golino, McDonough and Clayton Tonkin, who was in charge of both McDonough’s horse Idealrockidealroll and the winner Captain Ravishing.
More news in Harness
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No Jumals to beat this time at the Park so Ray’s looking for Lincoln Wave to roll in
Lincoln Linda best of the night at Cambridge - she has the engine to cross Soul Artist
Cheapie Johnny Lincoln a “proper” racehorse who can foot it with the Million bluebloods
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.44pm
“She did well here last time as she had to do a bit to get to the lead and she dug in and fought on. She’s certainly a chance if she repeats that effort.”
Race 4: Lincoln Linda
7.09pm
“I thought she went super last time after doing a lot of work. She can do that because she has an engine and is tough. She’s a bit one-dimensional - you have to turn her loose early - but from the two draw she should be able to lead and that’s where she does her best work.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.34pm
“I think he’s a bit stronger after his spell. It’s not a great field - most will die on that mark - and I don’t see a problem with the standing start as he’s nicely gaited. He could be marginally unfit after three months out but he’s done quite a bit of work and I can see him going a half-decent race.”
Race 6: Lincoln Maree
7.59pm
“She had every chance last time but I can’t see why she won’t go well again. She’s as honest as they come and tries like hell.”
Race 7: The Night Fox
8.29pm
“You’d think he’d lead easily from the inside. He’s had bad draws and still got the money, so I’m sure he’ll go another good race. I’m surprised they sold him so cheaply. He’s better than people think.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Lincoln Wave
5.09pm
“With the trip he got in the Harness Million I thought he’d have run on a lot better. But he was still a bit short on fitness and sometimes we can expect too much of these horses, he was racing the best, after all. It’s a big drop in grade here and he’s a pretty fair horse.”
Race 1: Leo Lincoln
5.09pm
“He’s an honest sort who’s in a good space but he won’t get a wonderful trip from the outside of the gate this time so I’m not holding my breath.”
Race 3: Sammy Lincoln
6.04pm
“He’s training down well but you never know what he’s going to do. You think you’ve got him sorted and he does something silly. But we know if the real Sammy turned up, he’d be very hard to beat as he’s got a lot of speed.”
Race 5: Prince Lincoln
7.05pm
“He’s another where you don’t know which one will turn up but we’ve gelded him since his last run, so we’ll see if that helps. He trained well the other day.”
