Partners hit an eagle with Lincoln’s Kruz and Steve says it sure beats mucking out boxes!

A chance meeting at the 2017 LPGA Womens’ golf tournament in Auckland led to Steve Haylock and his partner Sue Croft joining up with Lincoln Farms to race Lincoln’s Kruz.

Haylock recalled the encounter today after the showy black and Jonathan Riddell raced away from their opposition at Otaki to score his third win for trainer Lisa Latta, lifting hopes he is in for a profitable season.

Haylock, 66, a keen golfer from Palmerston North, volunteered to help out on the course, and ended up managing gates on the same hole as one Kevin Street.

When Haylock inquired if he was related to Lincoln Farms’ boss John Street, and discovered he was his brother, the conversation inevitably led to horse racing.

“I asked if it was possible to get a small share in one of the horses and we ended up with Lincoln’s Gal.”

The well bred I Am Invincible filly never lived up to her early promise, winning just one of 21 starts, but her replacement Lincoln’s Kruz looks to have much more future.

“It all looked pretty easy today, he seems to be learning and racing more kindly, and hopefully he will keep the form going now,” said Haylock, a retired Fonterra general manager.

Jonathan Riddell brings back the showy black Lincoln’s Kruz.“I was talking to Lisa at the tail end of his last preparation and she said he was still not the full package but over short distance races on better tracks his five-year-old career might be his best - with a trail he’s pretty lethal.”

Friends of Haylock and Croft, Peter and Bridget Morris, also came into the partnership with John and Lynne Street, Kruz their first horse with Lincoln Farms, as did first-time owners Jeff and Vicky Roach and Lincoln Farms’ business manager Ian Middleton.

“We’ve only got a small share but it’s all very exciting whether you’re a big owner or not.”

Haylock said with Covid restrictions they missed out on going to the races - “we love seeing the horse before the race and chatting with Lisa”.

Instead they had to watch the race from the sitting room of their Palmerston North home but celebrations tonight at a dinner in Massey would unquestionably involve some bubbles, he said.

So how did a Chemistry PhD and BSc honours student come to be cheering on racehorses?

“When I was at (Massey) university I used to hang round Murray Baker’s stables (in the 1970s) - he trained out of my girlfriend’s stables.

“I mucked out a few boxes for them. It wasn’t a glamorous job - I’d rather watch races and bet on them - but my first two or three shares were in his horses and I’ve had about a dozen wins now.”

Lincoln’s Kruz took his career tally to three wins from 22 starts for $42,711 in stakes.

He paid a healthy $6.70 for a horse strongly fancied in the www.lincolnfarms.co.nz preview.