Simply Sam is going too strongly for the late-closing Zarias at Alexandra Park. PHOTO: Megan Liefting/Race Images.
Up-and-comer Simply Sam shows he has other strings to his bow with brilliant win
By Barry Lichter • 1 July 2022
Driver Maurice McKendry tried a different playbook with Simply Sam at Auckland on Thursday night and it shed a whole new light on the promising pacer.
Not only did it show the horse can be used earlier in a race, it revealed he is also tough enough to sprint several times in the running and still win.
This was a whole new Simply Sam, not the one-dimensional one who had previously always fallen out of the gate and mounted a big late run from the rear.
And in bagging his fourth win from only 10 starts, the three-year-old proved to McKendry and Lincoln Farms’ trainer Ray Green that he is becoming a real racehorse.
Maurice McKendry … new playbook and perfect result.McKendry suggested to Green on leaving the barn that he might try pushing the button when the field was dispatched, given he was drawn favourably in five for a change.
Simply Sam found enough speed to be fourth early and all but secured the one-one possie, just beaten to it by Zarias who speared up fast underneath him into the first turn.
“He felt quite good and felt like he could get out even better,” McKendry said.
McKendry’s second experiment came at the 1200 metre mark when the pace slowed and he opted to pull out from three back in the running line.
Simply Sam effortlessly looped the field to sit in the death, where McKendry said he relaxed immediately.
“I thought they’d sprint home quickly so I’d get him up closer so he didn’t have to bust his guts. When he got upside the leader he dropped the bit beautifully. That’s another string to his bow.”
Simply Sam’s next new test came down the back straight when Wild Card charged up from the rear to attack for the lead three wide, McKendry asking his horse to kick up between Wild Card and leader Makara to stop the challenger from crossing.
Trainer Ray Green … buoyed by the effort.Despite the tempo upping to 27.9 in the back straight quarter, Simply Sam was still good enough to find more and stave off a late challenge from Zarias to score by half a neck in 2:43.3.
“He’s getting better all the time and starting to become a racehorse,” McKendry said.
“He did it nicely in the end.”
The performance buoyed Green and justified his confidence in McKendry as one of the best in educating young horses early in the careers.
The win took Simply Sam’s career tally to four wins and three placings for $36,829 in stakes for John and Lynne Street, Kim Miller, Robert and Donna Best, Priscilla Edmunds, the Red and Blue Syndicate and the Green Machine Racing Syndicate.
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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.”
