Dreams Of Eric and Harrison Orange are well clear at Cambridge on Thursday night. PHOTO: Ange Bridson/Race Images.
The dream’s alive but Nate tells why he’ll wait for ‘Harry’ before racing Eric again
By Barry Lichter • 11 July 2025
Trainer and part-owner Nathan Delany will wait for gun junior driver Harrison Orange to return to New Zealand before lining up improving colt Dreams Of Eric again.
Orange, 18, has driven Dreams Of Eric in each of his last six starts and Thursday night’s win brought their record together to two wins and two placings.
Delany is so enamoured with the newcomer’s ability in the cart that he will let Dreams Of Eric miss racing next week when Orange will be away in Brisbane, competing in the Australasian young drivers’ championship.
Orange is one of four New Zealand representatives, along with Sam Thornley, Carter Dalgety and Wilson House, in the four night-series which starts on Tuesday.
Delany, who trains the horse with Ray Green at Lincoln Farms is a junior driver himself but says “Harry” is so talented he has an extremely bright future ahead of him.
The fastest driver to reach 50 wins in New Zealand, Orange’s tally is now 53, of which 45 have come this year.
Delany praised the way Orange rated the Vincent colt on Thursday despite being attacked hard by Benson Dude and continually niggled at throughout the running.
He admitted he was surprised at how well the horse kicked on the home turn, putting up a break that the favourite Ohoka Achilles found beyond him.
Nathan Delany … leased Dreams Of Eric and races him with his mate Cody Evans.In winning by one and a quarter lengths, Dreams Of Eric posted the respectable time of 2:41.7, a mile rate of 1:58.3.
“I thought he’d run top three but I didn’t expect him to go that well,” Delany said.
“I thought Ohoka Achilles would be too good for him so I didn’t even back him.”
Sixth favourite in the field of seven, Dreams of Eric paid $13.80 on the tote and was as long as $18 on fixed odds before the race.
But Delany had warned to expect a better performance than the horse’s last-start eighth at Auckland six days earlier.
“The change of direction helped him out a lot. He just isn’t comfortable going right-handed and gets a knee.
“He’s also improved a lot. He ran all his quarters on Thursday night in under 30.”
Delany said it was a “team effort” at Lincoln Farms that had helped the insignificant-looking colt to perform so well.
“Everyone at the barn helps out but he’s a very easy horse to train. He’s very quiet and sometimes you wouldn’t even know he’s a colt.”
Delany said the three-year-old was starting to live up to his name for his ownership mate Cody Evans.
“He has big footsteps to follow as his half sister Jo’s Dream won a Group I race.”
Delany leased the horse from breeders Jo and Graham Goodin after he failed to reach his $15,000 reserve as a yearling, buyers passing over the small, ordinary-looking colt.
His record now reads nine starts for two wins, four placings and $12,985 in stakes.
The win took Delany’s personal training tally to three and his total for Lincoln Farms to 24 since he joined in a training partnership at the start of the year.
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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.”
