Ray Green, in the hospital day room with Lincoln Farms’ foreman Andrew Drake, admiring IRT’s gift of Copy That’s cup double.
Thanks IRT! Ray back on his hind legs and smiling thanks to cup sponsor’s gift
By Barry Lichter • 28 November 2022
The Ray Green smile was back today - thanks to some timely generosity from IRT managing director Richard Cole.
Green, in Middlemore Hospital recovering from major stomach surgery after being kicked, delighted in being given a large, framed montage of Copy That’s back-to-back wins in the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup.
The display, by Race Images’ Ajay Berry, captured brilliantly the memory of some glory days which Green is holding on to as he begins his long road to recovery.
Green was up and about in the ward day room today, discussing the preparation of his team at Lincoln Farms with foreman Andrew Drake.
“I’m lucky the stable is in very good hands,” Green said. “Andrew is liaising really well with me and they know what to do. We’ll get through this.”
It’s a far cry from the initial prognosis when the surgeon who operated on Green for seven hours last Monday told his wife Debbie “he’s not out of the woods yet. Don’t get your hopes up too high.”
“It was a bit of a worry for two or three days. I definitely thought I was dead. It was horrendous.”
IRT’s Richard Cole and his uncle David join Merv and Meg Butterworth on the victory dais at Addington. PHOTO: Ajay Berry/Race ImagesApart from the pain, Green said he couldn’t eat or drink or sleep.
“It was tough. I didn’t sleep for three days, tossing and turning and vomiting. But the last three days I’ve been getting better and better. And last night I had a really good night’s sleep.”
Nibbling on a hard boiled egg and some beetroot, Green told how apart from half an avocado he’d eaten very little the previous week.
With postoperative ileus, where the body basically shuts down and rejects food or water, Green said he had to wait for his bowel and gut to start functioning again.
He’s back in semi-working order again now but will have to wear a stoma bag for the next few months - surgeons created a hole in his abdomen through which a tube now funnels away his body wastes.
Stoma bag named Rose
Green, who has nicknamed the bag “Rose”, after his treasured No. 1 hospital nurse, said he’d been kicked plenty of times in the past but nothing approaching the severity of what happened last week.
“I couldn’t believe how hard that filly kicked me or why it would want to. It was unreal. It just barrelled me and I went flying through the air. Luckily I had my helmet on.”
Green said after initially protesting he’d be fine with 30 minutes rest, he knew after five minutes he was in trouble and needed to go to hospital.
“You can get a bit macho sometimes in this business. You think you can be a tough guy, take the kicks and bounce back.
“When I woke up after the operation all the texts were coming in saying ‘you’re tough, you’ll bounce back’ but I don’t think they understood just how bad it was.”
Green still hopes to recover faster than his doctors anticipate - he’s expecting to be discharged in the next few days and hopes to visit the stables by Friday.
He’s hoping to get back to the races next week when Copy That will be entered for a mobile mile, the cup winner’s last chance to get fit for the $50,000 Thames Summer Cup (2200m) the following week.
Whether or not Copy That gets a start remains to be seen. Last week he and Hot And Treacherous were scrubbed out by Harness Racing New Zealand because they were deemed to be too good for their opposition.
The Summer Cup and the $50,000 Lincoln Farms Franklin Cup (2700m) on December 31, are both standing starts with a maximum back mark of 30 metres.
More news in Harness
Prince Lincoln spearheads record-sized team for Lincoln Farms at Cambridge on Friday
Ray cautions punters with no lead this time for Jekyll and Hyde colt Prince Lincoln
Two (not so) secret weapons help Lincoln Farms to $29,287 payday at Cambridge
Deb dresses her latest ‘Copy’ weanling in white and he delivers a Major coup
Our runners this week: How our trainer rates them
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Spirited Belle
4.46pm
Delany: “I saw she’d been punted but somebody must know something we don’t as I’ve been working her myself and, while she feels all right and hasn’t put the boot in like at Auckland, I think she’ll need the run. She hasn’t got any high speed but feels like she will stay. She has improved a bit but I’d be surprised if she won.”
Race 1: Lincoln Maree
4.46pm
“It’s always hard from these draws but she’s a tough mare who will make her own luck at some stage. She’s going well enough - her drivers have all been happy - and she’s a little warrior who tries like hell.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.12pm
“He’s only two and very inexperienced but he feels like a good colt and there’s a lot of improvement in him. He certainly caught a lot of people’s attention last time. I don’t know how good he is yet but he’ll be right there.”
Race 2: Prince Lincoln
5.12pm
“If he can lead without having to do too much work I can’t see anything beating him. I thought he went great last start. He pressed the winner hard ’til the corner then just flattened out in the run home, but he had every reason to do that after all the work he’d done.”
Race 4: Spirit Of God
6.12pm
“She’s been undone by bad draws. If she led easily from three she’d be hard to beat as she’s a good front-runner.”
Race 4: Spirited Peggy
6.12pm
“We’ve had her for only two weeks but she’s seven now and has had her chance to win one. She has a bit of speed but I think she gets pulling so we’ve got the Hidez (compression) hood on her and plugged her ears up.”
Race 6: Copy N Paste
7.10pm
“We won’t see the best of him for another six months. He’s been a slow developing horse but is improving all the time and getting stronger.”
Race 6: Jessie Lincoln
7.10pm
“If I was having a bet on one of them in the race it would be her. She deserves to win one. Her last two have been really good - she just ran into one who was a bit slicker last time in Major Copy.”
Race 6: Lincoln Dealer
7.10pm
“He’s a bit one-dimensional - you’ve got to feed him track and let him run - so the second row draw is a big handicap. To his credit I was surprised he finished so close last time after all the work he did. When he gets a decent draw and crosses them they’ll know they’re at the races. He’s got a big motor and tries hard.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.08pm
“She clawed her way to the front last time but had nothing left at the finish. That won’t happen this time and she should lead easily from one.”
Race 8: Angelic Copy
8.08pm
“She’s had terrible draws but has been going good races. The others last time were just better than her but this is a big drop in class. With the right trip she could get some of it at huge odds.”
Race 9: Sugar Ray Lincoln
8.35pm
“He’s not quick away from a stand but he won’t muff it completely. He steps from the front line and Peter Ferguson was quite happy with his last run.”
Race 9: Lincoln Wave
8.35pm
“He bombed the stand the first time but to be fair all those horses were rushing up at him from the back and that panicked him a bit. He’s on 10 metres this time so that won’t happen.”
