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.
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
4.52pm
“She did a good job last week at Auckland. Throwing her in the deep end seems to have toughened her up a bit. She’s getting stronger all the time. This is a big drop in class and she’s a chance from a better gate (three).”
Race 2: Prince Lincoln
5.20pm
“If the real Prince turned up he’d absolutely be hard to beat. If he leads, as he should do from two, he’s a different horse.”
Race 3: Major Copy
5.54pm
“Maurice just nursed him around on debut. He was stepping over tyre marks on the track so he didn’t want to launch him into the open too soon. We’ll put a shadow roll on him this time to stop that and I can see him going a lot better from the inside draw.”
Race 3: Jessie Lincoln
5.54pm
“I’m not saying she can’t win but it will be hard for Fergie to find a good trip from the draw. She’ll need a lot of luck but she can be right in it if things go her way as she’s training well.”
Race 5: Lincoln Dealer
6.49pm
“He’s been a slow developing horse and you can’t drive him pretty, he won’t let you, as he’s a bit of a hot head. Maurice will launch him and see where he ends up.”
Race 5: Spirit Of God
6.49pm
“She got tired late last time and started hanging a bit (hitting a marker) but I thought she went OK. She did a bit early (from a wide draw) and was still there at the finish so she’s going to win a race. You never know with second line draws but it’s usually a decent impairment.”
Race 7: Lincoln Maree
7.40pm
“She never runs a bad race. She has a big motor for a little filly and should be right in the fray.”
Race 7: Angelic Copy
7.40pm
“Maurice said she foundered a bit when they took off, and got three or four lengths behind, but she didn’t lose any more ground after that and held her place. So the run wasn’t as bad as it looked and she’ll be improved.”
Race 8: Lincoln Wave
8.14pm
“It was a non-event last time (from a stand) and he’s a good horse who will be vying for the lead from five and deserves to be favourite.”
Race 8: Sugar Ray Lincoln
8.14pm
“Peter (Ferguson) said he didn’t feel as sharp last week as in the past so I’ve given him a little freshen-up with a light week and he should go better.”
