Debbie Green hugs driver Andre Poutama after My Copy’s big upset at Auckland tonight.
Proud owner Deb beaming as Andre gets rank outsider My Copy home at Alexandra Park
By Barry Lichter • 13 June 2024
Debbie Green knows My Copy will never set hearts aflutter like his half-brother Copy That but she just loves watching him race.
And when the big black scored his seventh win for her at Alexandra Park tonight, despite being terribly off in the ratings, she was beaming with pride.
My Copy, inner, staves off the late-closing Twista. PHOTO: Megan Liefting/Race Images.“That’s so exciting. He’s no superstar but he’s a nice horse and I’ve always wanted to see what he could run over a mile.”
My Copy’s 1:55.6 wasn’t the fastest of the night but for a rating 51 horse taking on pacers rated between R57 and R65 it was a pretty decent showing.
“America will be wanting him now,” said Green whose husband Ray trains the five-year-old at Lincoln Farms.
“He deserved that,” Ray Green said. “He’s been a good thing beaten in his last couple of starts.
“I can’t believe nobody bought him when he had him on the market for $40,000. He’s closing in on $100,000 now.
“If you had him in Australia you’d get a living off him as he’s such a tractable bugger.”
Greg Pope, representing race sponsor IRT, shares a joke with trainer Ray Green.My Copy took his bankroll to $87,860 tonight winning the IRT. Your Horse Our Passion Pace, and despite being the rank outsider in the seven-horse field paying $14.20, Green had rated him a chance if he got the right trip from the pole.
And while driver Andre Poutama had to hunt him out at the start to hold the trail, and My Copy looked to be struggling across the top bend, he responded like the trooper he is.
“He’s so laid back you’ve got to make him do it,” said Poutama, pinch-hitting for holidaying regular driver Maurice McKendry.
“If you let him get away with it, he will.”
Debbie Green greets My Copy after his seventh win.But under Poutama’s urgings, My Copy reeled off a 56.1 last half and 27 quarter to claim a head win over Twista, with the pacemaking Hugotastic a weakening third, three-quarters of a length away.
And Debbie Green was there on the track to meet her hero on his return, no doubt still picturing the hairy little midget by Highview Tommy she bought for $3000 at a weanling sale when he was just five months old.
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Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.40pm
“She’s going as good as she can. She’s got a bit of speed but isn’t that strong. But she should get a nice trip here and be right in the frame. She’ll win one soon.”
Race 1: Jessie Lincoln
5.40pm
“She’s a big filly who has taken time to mature but she has plenty of ability. She’s a good pacer and I expect her to improve on her resuming run and go well.”
Race 1: Lincoln Dealer
5.40pm
“He’s a bit of a handful, too keen for his own good sometimes, so I’ll be happy to see him just get round and do most things right. He’s no superstar but he’s coming to it slowly but surely. We’re throwing him in the deep end here and he has a terrible draw but we have to start somewhere.”
Race 4: Lincoln Maree
7.04pm
“She’s as tough as old boots and tries like hell and you can’t ask for much more than that. She just lacks a bit of speed but has a good attitude. She usually finds one or two better than her but will make them work for it anyway.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Prince Lincoln
4.56pm
“He’ll be improved for the last run, has trialled and is working well, and has a better draw (the ace) this time. You just have to be a bit wary because he’s let us down a couple of times.”
Race 3: Angelic Copy
5.56pm
“She had a tie-up issue but seems much better now. It’s her first run for a while so she’ll definitely need the run. I’m just hoping she gets around all right and pulls up OK.”
Race 3: Colonel Lincoln
5.56pm
“He’s a very capable horse, if injury prone, and he’s been back in work for three or four months. You never say never but, realistically, he’s just starting off so you can’t expect him to be at his peak.”
Race 5: Sammy Lincoln
6.55pm
“I know I said it two starts back but if there’s such a thing as a certainty, he’s it. Even from seven on the gate, everything says he’s the one to beat. If he hadn’t gone a bit goofy up the home straight last time in the Sires’ Stakes Semi at Cambridge, he’d have easily run third. This is a huge drop in class.”
Race 7: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.58pm
“I expect he’ll be a bit sharper this time. He’s looking well and feeling good but I still think another run under his belt will be beneficial for him. He’s not one to leap out of the ground but he is capable of taking the race.”
