Ireland's Best Chance In The Lincoln - 'He lit up the polytrack at Dundalk' It is fair to say that Ireland have not had too much luck with runners in the Lincoln. The last Irish-trained winner of the Lincoln came way back in 1984. With the Irish Lincoln taking place at the Curragh two weeks before its British counterpart, many of Ireland’s top handicappers tend to stay at home and are only deployed to Britain later on in the season. While the Irish contingent for this year’s renewal is rather small once again, considering the A J Martin trained Orandi’s third place last year, the gap appears to be narrowing and could any Irish raiders build on that success this year and end Ireland’s 42 year wait for victory in the Lincoln? Irish Trained Entries In The Lincoln Far From Dandy - Stephen Thorne Orandi - A J Martin Far From Dandy - Stephen Thorne Considered very much an outsider by the bookmakers for this year’s Lincoln, Far From Dandy is not without hope. Having put in some impressive performances over the winter. He lit up the polytrack at Dundalk with back-to-back wins over a mile in November and December which have stood him in good stead heading into the turf season. And that proved to be the case when running a good race in the Irish Lincoln two weeks ago. He did not get off the best of starts and had to get around a number of runners early on, but raced well to make up ground around two furlongs out and stayed on well in the closing stages to take a respectable fourth place. It was not a perfect performance by any means, but certainly one he can build on heading into this. He will need a few to come out in order to line up on the day, however, he is unexposed and his form looks solid going into this. He will have race fitness on his side and there is a strong possibility that if he gets in the race he could spring a surprise on the day. Orandi - A J Martin The winner of last year’s Irish Lincoln and third in the British version two weeks later, Orandi has had a difficult time since with a number of uninspiring performances. After the highs early last season he was not seen again until the end of July and, while he finished third on that occasion, his subsequent runs have been way below par. He made his reappearance two weeks ago in this season's Irish Lincoln and it is fair to say the disappointing performances continued. Partnered with Ryan Moore he was never really in the race and made no impression when asked for effort around two furlongs out the 6lb higher mark clearly having an effect. However, even though he comes into this not in the same form he was last year, his performance last year he should be remembered and, although older horses do not have a strong record in the race, he is only 1lb higher than his mark last season. With a race under his belt he should strip fitter and he remains a strong contender for this race.
