Leo Lincoln’s legs go everywhere as he launches himself into the air, spooked by a pile of poo on the track.
Green baby Leo Lincoln scores a 10 out of 10 - but dang that dung nearly cost him
By Barry Lichter • 16 December 2023
Trainer Ray Green and more specifically driver Andre Poutama marked Leo Lincoln 10 out of 10 at Alexandra Park on Friday night.
But the rating wasn’t just for his all-the-way three and a quarter length drubbing, more the acrobatics he showed just after the mobile gate pulled away at the start.
The plan to lead the four-horse field almost came unstuck when Leo Lincoln spotted a pile of poo on the track - and jumped it.
Incredibly, instead of galloping, he landed still in a pace.
“He went up in the air but I grabbed him straight away and it was lucky he came down pacing,” Poutama said.
The deft footwork belied a horse of such inexperience, Friday night’s race just the 11th for the two-year-old.
Poutama was able to push on the lead but said Leo Lincoln was still green in the run.
Leo Lincoln and Andre Poutama are well in control at the finish.“I had to keep him on the bit, he kept looking at stuff, I don’t know what.
“But he’s definitely better than when he dead-heated (at Cambridge in August). He had a bit of a break in September and has come back a stronger horse.”
After three recent placed runs, which Poutama said had helped give the gelding more confidence, and four scratchings which negated his outside draw, Leo Lincoln was given his chance in front on Friday night and never looked like being caught.
Expected challenges from the Telfer-trained pair Delightful Reality and Carbon never eventuated and he was able to cruise home in 57.7 and 29.
“They only went 2:43.3 but he’s a lazy bugger and only does what he has to,” Green said.
“He’ll win plenty more.”
Part owner Phil Kelly, left, shares a joke with the Mangere Lawn Cemetery race sponsor.That rap will be welcomed by Green’s partners in the Art Major gelding - Lincoln Farms’ owners John and Lynne Street, their business manager Ian Middleton, Glenn and Ann Cotterill and Phil Kelly.
The $8250 stake the horse win on Friday night took his earnings to $21,550, a handsome bankroll for a horse just clearing the non-winners’ grade.
It was much the kind of start John Street hoped for when he paid $27,000 for Leo Lincoln as a weanling in 2021, his experience with the horse’s dam Alta Valencia’s brother Alta Intrigue all positive.
Lincoln Farms won nearly $100,000 with the consistent Alta Intrigue who, from just 26 starts, won four races and ran 13 placings, including a third in the 2017 Woodlands Northern Derby behind Raukapuka Ruler and Ultimate Machete.
Alta Intrigue was sold for big money a few months later to Western Australia, where he won another 10 races.
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Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 3: Lincoln Downs
6.22pm
“She got home really well on the second night at Manawatu and gets a good draw here. There’s not much exposed form in the race so it’s hard to know how she compares but she’ll win one.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 3: Debbie Lincoln
7.01pm
“I thought she went super again last week with no luck and we’ve got a decent draw for a change so you have to like her chances. She’s been getting in on the corners, so we’ve added a Murphy blind.”
Race 3: Tyson
7.01pm
“I was impressed by the way he hung on to Captain Sampson and Greased Lightnin last week. They’re strong sprinters and it was only a sprint up the straight. He’ll need things to go his way from six.”
Race 3: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.01pm
“It was his first run for a while last week and he probably needed another trial. But we thought we might as well race him to set him up for this week. The outside draw of eight doesn’t help.”
Race 9: Lincoln Lover
9.55pm
“He’s not as sharp as our other two but he’s a game little bugger. He’ll win races for sure.”
Race 9: Prince Lincoln
9.55pm
“I thought he went really well last week. He’d had only one trial and was a bit fresh so it was understandable that he got tired the last bit. That will tighten him up and I’m expecting him to race well. He’s trained on well since.”
Race 9: Johnny Lincoln
9.55pm
“Prince has the wood on Johnny but he’ll still go well. He found the line well last week. It was his first run for a while too, and his first as a gelding.”
