Argyle, third from the top, is swallowed up late at Albion Park at his last start.
Argyle out of action, injured, and barrier draw will take Nemo out of play too on Saturday
By Barry Lichter • 18 April 2024
In-form Argyle will be out of action for a few months after injuring a suspensory ligament in his last race at Albion Park in Brisbane.
Argyle paced a terrific race in front and was gobbled up only in the last 50 metres, finishing a close fifth, but he was noticeably short in his action on pulling up.
And when his off front leg blew up quite quickly afterwards, trainer Mark Dux knew the five-year-old was looking at a holiday.
“I’ve been wrapping it and treating it for the last fortnight and you can see a bit of definition now in the leg, which is a good sign, as it was like a stove pipe before.
“These things normally take a while to settle down but I’m pretty hopeful as it’s not the worst injury.
“If you had to have an injury, it’s the best one to have. I’m a lot more confident with a suspensory than a tendon.”
Depending on the rate of healing, Dux expects Argyle to be sidelined for three or four months.
“We’ll take it in baby steps. He’s confined to box at the moment with a small adjoining walk-in walk-out yard, enough space for him to move around without being stupid.
“When I’m happy with his improvement he can go out to a small paddock.
“Watching him wander around you wouldn’t know he was sore. He seems a million dollars and he’s still in charge when you walk him.”
Dux said Argyle had done well in recent months, consistently running times little inferior to the free-for-all pacers in Queensland.
“He might not have the acceleration of the free-for-allers but he’s strong enough. Hopefully we can get another couple of preps out of him.”
Argyle banked A$46,250 this last prep, taking his career record to eight wins from 48 starts for A$102,919.
Captain Nemo … lines up from the outside of the front line on Saturday night.Stablemate Captain Nemo is in the early stages of a new prep and Dux said he’s been having trouble getting races for him.
“He was balloted out last Saturday, his race didn’t go ahead on Tuesday, and now he’s got barrier 12 on Saturday night.”
Captain Nemo takes on a strong and even lot in the band 5 second race and was luckless in the random draw, landing the outside of the second line.
“We can’t make too much happen from that alley. We’ll need something to go our way in the running. But I’m more than happy with him - he’s come on really well since his first-up run, he’s felt really good in training.”
The record book shows Captain Nemo beat only two home on April 6, just under 22 metres from the winner Amami, but that hardly reflects the merit of his effort.
Captain Nemo, back among the tailenders from a wide gate, was clocked over his last mile of the 2138 metres in 1:55.99, home in 57.46 - and he covered an extra 36 metres in the running.
Amami clocked an almost identical 1:56.02 and 56.94 home.
“It wasn’t a bad run and, while it’s very hard to predict how things will pan out on Saturday, he’ll run a race, regardless of the draw.”
Captain Nemo races at 7.54pm NZ time at Albion Park on Saturday night.
More news in Harness
No Jumals to beat this time at the Park so Ray’s looking for Lincoln Wave to roll in
Lincoln Linda best of the night at Cambridge - she has the engine to cross Soul Artist
Cheapie Johnny Lincoln a “proper” racehorse who can foot it with the Million bluebloods
Bang! Lincoln Wave’s tyre blows out, startling rival drivers but Alabar win would shock more
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.”
