Ray’s ready to deal but Ace Commander’s not quite ready to trump ‘em yet
By Barry Lichter • 19 November 2019
Ace Commander gave his best hint yet that he can make the grade in the north with a bold win at the Pukekohe workouts at the weekend.
But while trainer Ray Green expects the trotter to run well when he resumes at Auckland on Friday night, he’s not expecting him to win.
Ace Commander hasn’t raced since June when, after two runs for Green, it was discovered he had an entrapped epiglottis.
Routine surgery corrected the breathing problem after which Ace Commander was given a decent break. And Green has given the six-year-old a slow buildup, contesting five workouts in October and November.
Last Saturday he ran his best yet when downing two talented trotters in Havehorsewilltravel and Forget The Price Tag, both of whom oppose him on Friday night.
Ace Commander has shown a good turn of foot in his workouts.Showing good speed away from the stand again, Ace Commander pressed forward to wrest the lead after 400 metres.
Zachary Butcher kept the horse pinging along in front and after the challenging Delson broke on the home turn he scored easily by one and a quarter lengths from Havehorsewilltravel with a head to Forget The Price Tag who both made up good ground late.
Ace Commander ran the 2500 metres in 3:20.1, a mile rate of 2:08.7, with closing sectionals of 61.1 and 29.3.
And best of all, his heart rate was lower than in recent workouts, a sign that he had continued steady improvement.
“His heart rate wasn’t bad after I drove him on Tuesday either, “ said Green. “He’s improving all the time. Those were two really nice horses who couldn’t round him up on Saturday.
“He’s capable of going a good race but I think he’ll need a run or two.”
Ace Commander, bought by leading Australian owner Merv Butterworth, came from the South Island with a record of five wins from 23 starts and he gets into Friday’s race as the second highest rated trotter behind Forget The Price Tag, but consequently starts from a 20 metre handicap.
Ace Commander, by Monarchy, has shown he has a good turn of foot and Green says he fits nicely into the grade he finds himself in on Friday.
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Nathan’s comments
Wednesday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Lincoln Maree
5.11pm
“She’s finding her feet and was a bit unlucky at Taupo. She put in a few rough ones out of the gate - she was like that early in her prep and could just jump out of it - but she’s generally doing things right now. She trained well on Saturday and, with the right run, could run top three.”
Race 3: The Night Fox
6pm
“He won really well on the second day at Hawera and if he races anything like he’s training he’ll be hard to beat. He ran a 27.3 quarter during the week and I was just sitting on him. I’ll tell Craig to go forward, set an even tempo and cut him loose at the 600. I think he’s our best of the night.”
Race 6: Lincoln Lover
7.35pm
“Hopefully he’s improved since Taupo when Fergie drove him a treat in front. I actually think he’s better coming off something’s back but I’ll leave it up to Fergie. He’s up a bit in grade but has the right draw to be in it all the way.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 5: Lincoln Wave
7.32pm
“He had an easy run last week and he can go a lot faster than that. He should be hard to beat. It won’t matter if he doesn’t find the lead from six, he’ll be just as effective coming from off the pace. He’s a pretty classy horse, classier than most of those against him.”
