Whatever happened to Lincoln Falls? It’s been a long wait but, boy, does he look the part now

Talented galloper Lincoln Falls looks to have made a great recovery from a minor tendon injury and should soon be back in work with trainer Lisa Latta.

And Bulls horseman Bryce Newman says Latta will be excited when she sees Lincoln Falls who, as a four-year-old, has developed into an imposing individual.

“‘He’s a massive, strong horse now and all the signs are really good.”

Newman has done 10 weeks of rehab with Lincoln Falls and says on what can be seen he has made a full recovery.

“We’ll rescan the leg to make doubly sure, as soon as vets are able to work normally again, but Tim (Pearce) was here three weeks ago and on casting his eye over him said he looked “mint.”

Lincoln Falls had to be scratched on the eve of his first four-year-old start at Hastings last August when Latta found very slight filling in his near foreleg.

Lincoln Falls has matured into an impressive looking four-year-old.Newman says that was a great early find as from the time he took delivery of the horse he’s never seen anything that’s worried him.

That tallied well with Pearce’s initial prognosis that the horse would recover well from what was only a very small hole in his tendon.

Newman, one of the country’s most accomplished equestrian riders who trained Gorbachev to win the 2019 Wellington Cup, followed a strict rehab programme that has now become second nature for him, one which saw Lincoln Falls confined to a four metre by four metre box until three weeks ago.

“He was doing 10 minutes on the walker at the start and now he’s up to half an hour walking and 10 to 15 minutes trotting.

“He’s in a small paddock because we don’t want him hooning around. It would only take one gallop and for him to put on the brakes and spin around to set him back a month.

“But the way he’s going he looks like he’s ready to start riding work, certainly by June.”

Newman says it’s a rewarding result for what has been a very time consuming project, one where there are no short cuts.

Majority owners John and Lynne Street were never going to take short cuts with Lincoln Falls, for whom they turned down a seven figure offer after he won his debut at Woodville in September, 2018.

And when the Dundeel galloper smashed his opposition at Trentham three months later it all looked ahead of him.

But Lincoln Falls’ manners started to let him down and after he over-raced badly and ran last in the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie he was gelded.

Lincoln Falls was rested after one more start, in the Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes at Te Rapa, and while he will sit out his entire four-year-old season, there should be plenty more in store for the Streets and their partners, Christopher Grace and his Sixforsixty syndicate.