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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Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Mark Dux’s comments
Wednesday night at Redcliffe
Race 1: Captain Nemo
7.17pm NZ time
“It’s a reasonable field, they’re not push-overs, but they’re all beatable. It will all come down to who gets the right trip. If we have something go our way we could get some of it as there’s not a lot between them and I don’t think he’s far off now. We’ve got a bad draw again and there’s a bit of speed inside us so I’ll tell Angus to just play it by ear.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Lincoln La Moose
7.32pm
“He’s a pretty good horse. He was still below his best last time at Cambridge - he needed the race - but went very well for second behind King’s Watch. With his ace draw, he should be right up there for Zac (Butcher). He always looked a bit delicate but he’s got tougher.”
Race 4: Obadiah Dragon
7.32pm
“He’ll go a good race but our others look better here. His last run was below par for him so we took a blood off him and he had a bit of a virus going on. He was at the tail end of it but it was enough to stop him.”
Race 4: Lincoln Lou
7.32pm
“Even if he’s half a run short, I don’t think it will matter, he’ll still be too good for this lot. He only had a mild virus which came right with treatment and he’s trained on well since. He feels pretty good and if I was betting man, I’d bet him for sure based on his last run, which was massive.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.32pm
“He’s in a ‘coming of age’ phase. He rushed up beside them last start and wanted to lay all over them and give them a hug. But that’s normal coltish behaviour. He does that in training as well, rushes up and switches off. He has a lot of ability but also a few little behaviour traits that we need to get on top of.”
Race 6: My Copy
8.24pm
“It won’t be easy from four on the second row but he’s very honest and, if opportunity knocks, he’ll be right there. If he gets a trip, he’s always ready to pounce.”
Race 9: Tyson
9.39pm
“He should be one of the favourites. The raw ability is there and he’ll definitely win races as he has a bit of speed. How far he will take us we have yet to find out but I thought he did really well last time given the run he had.”
