Battle stations for Captain Nemo at last but all main vents won’t be opened just yet

Trainer Mark Dux is expecting a good race from Captain Nemo on Tuesday even though he hasn’t lined up for nearly four months.

Dux will produce the five-year-old in the ninth race at Albion Park without a recent trial but says he’s ready to go.

“I’m very pleased with him, he’s training really nicely, and I’m sure he’ll run a good race even though he’ll obviously be better for it.

“It’s not an easy race - there are some decent horses in there - but, with the right trip, he can run top four.”

Five of the eight runners in the up-to-rating 90 1660m race are rated higher then Captain Nemo (R74), with two of them, Dark Terror (R83) and Hy Voltage (R87), in peak form.

“There looks to be a bit of speed out wide. If they go hard, we’ll come out steady, hope to get a nice trail and be hitting the line. We won’t be trying to over drive him.”

Captain Nemo hasn’t been seen on the racetrack since April 29, when he ran last of 10, prompting his gelding, which had been in the offing for some time.

It had been four months since his last win during which time he had become more difficult to handle.

But the horse took some time to recover from the operation and he was given a month off to let the swelling settle down.

Nemo joined his Lincoln Farm mates, Tommy Lincoln and Argyle, who were also recovering in the paddock from campaign setbacks.

Untimely setback

Tommy Lincoln’s slip on the training track proved untimely on the eve of the Brisbane carnival, especially as he had just trialled in a 1:51.8 mile rate.

Dux believes the horse strained or tore a hamstring muscle, which saw a large haematoma develop on his leg.

“For a while we couldn’t get it down. We drained it but it filled back up again. When it finally burst again by itself, it drained properly.

“It’s starting to look pretty good and he should be back in work in early September.”

That’s about when Argyle should be ready to trial and race again after a foot abscess wrecked his campaign, forcing a lot of his hoof to be cut away.

“The foot is looking really good now, it’s grown down a lot. Hopefully, we’ll have no more issues now.”

Captain Nemo races at 7.22pm NZ time at Albion Park on Tuesday.