Moore lines up for Little White Lie in Lincoln

Mar 18 2008 by Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

FORMER champion jockey Ryan Moore will ride Little White Lie in Saturday’s William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster when the new Flat season starts.

Moore will be looking to regain his title this season after seeing Jamie Spencer and Seb Sanders share the championship last year as Moore’s hopes were scuppered by a lengthy injury this summer.

Ger Lyons, who enjoyed his best season last year, is delighted to have Moore riding the four-year-old, who is a 16-1 chance with totesport.

“At the moment I’m very happy with him and Ryan Moore rides,” said Lyons. “His people contacted me and he’s a nice horse to get the leg-up on.

“He’s stood his ground and as long as the going is no better than good to soft he’ll go – soft is what he needs.

“He did his last bit of work on Saturday and I was very happy with him and at the moment we are all guns blazing.

“He’s a very poor work horse so with the Lincoln in mind I took him to Dundalk for a change of scenery and to blow the cobwebs away.

“I’m not sure I learned anything because it will be different ground and everything, he comes into his own on soft ground.

“He’s the most straightforward horse, but the only negative is you never know what you are going to get until he steps onto a track, but he’s never let me down on a track.

“He ran a great race at Epsom last year when he was second so we know he travels.

“He’s off 102 and that is as high as I’d ever imagined him to be, he’s not going to be a 110 horse and he’s not hiding anything from the handicapper.

“There is a big pot in him and the English Lincoln is massive, whether he is good enough to win one I don’t know.”

The ante-post favourite is Barry Hills’s trained Zaahid, who is currently a best-priced 6-1 with most firms including Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral and totesport. Owner Hamdan Al Maktoum also has Heaven Knows entered and both were among the horses who stood their ground yesterday’s the five-day stage.

Zaahid, though, is still not guaranteed a run and Angus Gold, the owner’s racing manager, said: “Barry Hills has been pleased with the horse recently.

“He wouldn’t mind a bit of cut in the ground but obviously he wouldn’t want a slog, like most of them, so we just need to see if he’ll get a run.

“Richard Hills has ridden him in work and feels he has got plenty of speed and that he is not a horse who will stay a lot further, so he wouldn’t want it too soft from that point of view either.”