Ray: Simply Sam in the zone and ready to take on Australia’s best three-year-olds

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.