Sugar Ray Lincoln stomps home down the outside, with Tyson and Leo Lincoln inside him.
Sugar Ray Lincoln’s breath-taking recovery undoubted highlight of Lincoln Farms trifecta
By Barry Lichter • 7 December 2024
“He’s just like his brother, he does everything wrong.”
That was trainer Ray Green’s immediate reaction to Sugar Ray Lincoln’s off-the-canvas win at Auckland on Friday night, which had all the hallmarks of his older brother Copy That.
In a recovery which had commentator Aaron White in raptures, Sugar Ray Lincoln overcame a gallop 1450 metres from home which saw him go back to second last a round from home but somehow effortlessly score, going away, in a sizzling 2:40.9 for the 2200 metres.
Starting his run four wide and being forced five wide round the home turn, the colt powered up to reel in stablemates Tyson and Leo Lincoln, breaking the clock with his sectionals.
“He showed tonight what he’s always been capable of,” Green said.
“He’s always shown us he’s something special but he hasn’t made it easy for us. Copy That is a hard act to follow, and I don’t think he’s one of them, but he’s on a similar path.”
Part-owner Debbie Green with Sugar Ray Lincoln after his breath-taking win.Like Copy That, recently retired the winner of $2 million and two New Zealand Trotting Cups, Sugar Ray took six starts to win a race, his misbehaviour costing him a number of times.
Friday night’s win was his third from 15 starts for owners Debbie Green, John and Lynne Street, Ian Middleton and Phil Cook, after a fruitless southern campaign blighted by a virus.
“He’s got a lot of potential and hopefully he can go on with it now,” Green said.
The race was a messy watch for Green, who lined up five runners, four of whom who looked out of it halfway through the race.
When Sugar Ray galloped outside the leader, a chain reaction through the field saw Lincoln Lou run into the back of Leo Lincoln and gallop, hampering both Tyson who had to take evasive action and Kevin Kline who galloped.
Only Leo Lincoln and Peter Ferguson were unaffected and turning for home, when he eased out of the one-one, Ferguson thought for a fleeting second that “he was going to blow them away.”
“I thought, you beauty, but he took two strides then got rocky in his pacing action and lost his confidence.”
Meanwhile, Nathan Delany and Tyson were sweeping into the action.
“I could hear Sugar Ray on my back and thought I’d better get going,” Delany said. “But it didn’t help when he started dropping his head on the final bend. He might need an overcheck.”
Tyson comfortably held second, three lengths in front of Leo Lincoln, with another three lengths to Kevin Kline (fifth).
“Tony (Herlihy) was happy with the way he finished,” Green said.
Andre Poutama rued the terrible run Lincoln Lou endured from his wide draw.
“Everywhere he went, something broke in front of him.”
Checked again in the run home when taking evasive action at the 100, Lincoln Lou ran ninth, a total forgive run.
More news in Harness
Lincoln Wave scorches in, still on target for richer races and Sammy’s making progress too
Johnny Lincoln’s big ticker will stand to him in the States and Lover’s also sold to Aussie
No Jumals to beat this time at the Park so Ray’s looking for Lincoln Wave to roll in
Lincoln Linda best of the night at Cambridge - she has the engine to cross Soul Artist
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.44pm
“She did well here last time as she had to do a bit to get to the lead and she dug in and fought on. She’s certainly a chance if she repeats that effort.”
Race 4: Lincoln Linda
7.09pm
“I thought she went super last time after doing a lot of work. She can do that because she has an engine and is tough. She’s a bit one-dimensional - you have to turn her loose early - but from the two draw she should be able to lead and that’s where she does her best work.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.34pm
“I think he’s a bit stronger after his spell. It’s not a great field - most will die on that mark - and I don’t see a problem with the standing start as he’s nicely gaited. He could be marginally unfit after three months out but he’s done quite a bit of work and I can see him going a half-decent race.”
Race 6: Lincoln Maree
7.59pm
“She had every chance last time but I can’t see why she won’t go well again. She’s as honest as they come and tries like hell.”
Race 7: The Night Fox
8.29pm
“You’d think he’d lead easily from the inside. He’s had bad draws and still got the money, so I’m sure he’ll go another good race. I’m surprised they sold him so cheaply. He’s better than people think.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Lincoln Wave
5.09pm
“With the trip he got in the Harness Million I thought he’d have run on a lot better. But he was still a bit short on fitness and sometimes we can expect too much of these horses, he was racing the best, after all. It’s a big drop in grade here and he’s a pretty fair horse.”
Race 1: Leo Lincoln
5.09pm
“He’s an honest sort who’s in a good space but he won’t get a wonderful trip from the outside of the gate this time so I’m not holding my breath.”
Race 3: Sammy Lincoln
6.04pm
“He’s training down well but you never know what he’s going to do. You think you’ve got him sorted and he does something silly. But we know if the real Sammy turned up, he’d be very hard to beat as he’s got a lot of speed.”
Race 5: Prince Lincoln
7.05pm
“He’s another where you don’t know which one will turn up but we’ve gelded him since his last run, so we’ll see if that helps. He trained well the other day.”
