Ray staying grounded for Thursday night as Sugar Ray Lincoln’s a real work in progress

Sugar Ray Lincoln might have the race form and experience over his rivals but he’s too much of a work in progress for trainer Ray Green to label him a winner on Thursday night.

Copy That’s little brother resumes in the eighth race at Auckland with no recent workouts, six weeks after a big effort in running fourth in the $106,150 Young Guns Final.

And, while he’s been training “OK”, Green says the race will be little more than a glorified trial for the colt.

“I was in two minds whether to start him. He’s not going as good as I’d like him to be but he’s a funny horse who’s hard to read.

“He’s a bit like Copy That was early on - he’s not the complete deal yet - and he can put in some funny steps.

“He’s disappointed in the past making mistakes, so he’s not as reliable as we’d like, but we’ve just got to work through that.

“I probably expect too much of him. But while he’s shown glimpses of good stuff in the past, you try not to get carried away.”

Green said Sugar Ray Lincoln had two and a half weeks in the paddock after the Young Guns series, not long enough to require a slow build-up.

“It’s hard to get a line on his fitness as he never trains super. But he’s going all right and at least we can race for some money.”

Green might be reticent to tip Sugar Ray Lincoln but he showed enough in the Young Guns Final on May 3 to again impress driver Maurice McKendry, mainting a solo run three wide from the 600 metres to finish 4.3 lengths from winner Cyclone Jordy.

And just half a length behind him was Thursday’s rival, stablemate Lincoln Lou, who enjoyed a perfect trail.

“The little fella is good. He seems to have done well with the little break and of the pair he’s probably going a bit the better.

“I’m not worried about the draws (Sugar Ray in four and Lincoln Lou in six) as they don’t matter so much in a six-horse field. And we wont be pushing them out early as it’s their first run back.

“I’m not expecting to win but that’s not to say they can’t as they’re both good colts.”

Sugar Ray Lincoln will be driven by Andre Poutama on Thursday, with McKendry not back from holidaying in Fiji, while Monika Ranger takes the reins behind Lincoln Lou.

Green said he expected the Barry Purdon/Scott Phelan pair to be hard to beat, recent prep runs showing there’s little between South Side Story and Greased Lightnin.

And the Steve and Amanda Telfer-trained Bar Louie showed plenty of ability when scoring first-up at Cambridge to be rated a threat.

Obadiah Dragon … racing well and just looking for some luck. PHOTO: Jack McKenzie.Earlier in the night, Green is expecting another good run from Obadiah Dragon who finished a close-up fifth behind Twista last week at Auckland.

“He’s going well, I can’t fault him, he just needs a bit of luck. He was a good thing beaten at Cambridge two starts back and last time he got held up a little at the top of the straight.”

Also in tight quarters near the finish, Obadiah Dragon raced over the final track marker, less than two lengths behind the winner, timed home in 26.7.

My Copy, who takes on a tougher field in the seventh race, was credited with the fastest equal closing half in that race, 55.8, before also unleashing a final 400 in 26.7.

“Nothing got home better than him,” Green said. “He’s in the zone, he’s racing well, he looks well, everything about him is good.

“From the inside draw he should be handy so he’s got to be some chance. But I won’t be holding my breath as it’s a better bunch than he’s been racing, they’re all form horses.”

My Copy is clearly the lowest rated horse in the race, an R51, compared with rivals rated from R57 to R65.