Ray’s losing horses already and warns racing will be dead and buried if stakes drop too low

Lincoln Farms trainer Ray Green fears very low stakes will see an exodus of horses from New Zealand, leaving it little more than a pre-training ground.

Even before an imminent announcement from the technically insolvent Racing Industry Transition Agency on what prize money will look like for the next three months, Green is feeling the effects.

Leading Sydney owner Emilio Rosati has just told Green to put his good three-year-olds Platinum Stride and Prestige Stride on the first flight out.

Smart colt Platinum Stride … lost to New Zealand.“If I hadn’t gelded Vanquish Stride this morning he’d have been on the plane too but I imagine it won’t be long before he’s gone.

“Emilio quite rightly says if the purses are going to be as low as everyone’s saying, there’s no point in keeping his horses here.”

Green has two horses left owned by Rosati but has been told that as soon as he finds out if they’re any good to dispatch them to Australia, or to get rid of them if they’re not up to it.

Green says the other big Australian owner with horses at Lincoln Farms, Merv Butterworth, is likely to follow suit.

Australian owner Merv Butterworth sharing better times with Ray Green at Alexandra Park.Already The Empress and Bettor My Dreamz are booked to go and he worries for the future of his standout colt Copy That, arguably the best three-year-old in the country.

“Why would these owners want anything trained here when our stakes could be less than they were 20 or 30 years ago?

“I’m afraid a lot of people will be abandoning New Zealand. I imagine the thoroughbred industry will be even worse.

“If the rumours are true about how low stakes are going to be, then racing in New Zealand will be dead and buried.

“The people running the show have squandered all our money over the last few years and RITA has put a couple more nails in the coffin.

“Surely no one could be that stupid to have put us so far in debt and now the morons want to finish us off.”

Already Lincoln Farms is developing a new model of getting young horses up and running and either selling them or sending them to Australia to race and it won’t be long before others follow, says Green.

“All we’ll be doing is pre-training horses for Australia.”