Double Or Nothing, arrowed, finishes close up in fourth after being badly held up in the running.
Unlucky Double Or Nothing gets a draw to be on the speed and hard to beat on Tuesday
By Barry Lichter • 27 January 2020
Double Or Nothing should finish top two at Albion Park on Tuesday but he’ll still need to race up to his best against a field of older and seasoned pacers.
Drawn two in a field of seven, trainer Al Barnes expects to see his son Hayden either lead or trail on Lincoln Farms’ consistent three-year-old.
And that would put him in a winning position and eliminate the bad luck which saw him finish only fourth last start.
Double Or Nothing was caught three wide on a blistering opening quarter of 26.9 on January 17 but eventually lobbed a beautiful one-one trial.
Double Or Nothing, arrowed, is full of running and looking to get out of a pocket.But when Hayden wanted to pull the trigger on Double Or Nothing he was hemmed up in traffic, held up all the way round the home bend and well into the home stretch before being able to angle into the clear.
Double Or Nothing finished on strongly to be only 4.5 metres from winner Flying Wingard, almost in line with the second and third horses.
“But he didn’t ping like we thought he would,” says Barnes. “That’s why Hayden stayed in because we thought he had a more brilliant turn of foot. We’re still learning about him but it seems that while he has good speed he needs time to wind up.
“Hayden might want to lead on Tuesday and I’d say he’ll be either there or in the trail and from there he should go close, and finish in the top two.
“But he’ll have to do a good job because it’s a reasonably strong race and there are plenty of seasoned, older horses against him and the one horse (Rocknroll Classic) goes nicely.”
Barnes says Double Or Nothing will find it a little harder than former stablemate Trojan Banner did on his arrival in Brisbane last year.
That’s because the new national ratings system had not yet begun and Trojan Banner was so lowly assessed despite his record he was able to win seven on end.
“He’s probably rated a bit higher than he should be but we’ll see if he can handle it. He should do.”
Double Or Nothing made an instant impression first-up in Brisbane when he looped the field and ran away to score in a 1:55.4 mile rate.
The winner’s time last start was 1.1 seconds slower and they only crawled home in 59.2 and 30.2.
Double Or Nothing races at 4.53pm NZ time at Albion Park on Tuesday.
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.”
