Tony Martin could have a slice of history on his hands in Doncaster this Saturday if Orandi emerges on top in the William Hill Lincoln.
The prestigious one-mile handicap at Town Moor is the traditional first big prize of the British flat season on turf and it is 41 years since an Irish-trained winner. That was the Dermot Weld-trained Saving Mercy ridden by the late Walter Swinburn.
Martin will hope to bridge that gap but also pull off an original feat with Orandi.
The seven-year-old recently marked the start of the Irish flat season on grass with an impressive success at the Curragh in the Irish Lincolnshire. No horse has ever won the Irish and English Lincolns in the same season. But Orandi is a general 14-1 shot to pull it off and Martin is giving serious consideration to the attempt.
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“We will confirm him for the race in the morning [Monday]. We’ll check him out Tuesday, do bloods and the rest, and give him a little bit [of work] on Wednesday. If we’re happy, he can ship on Thursday,” he said.
“All I can say is it’s a good pot and conditions are right there at the moment. He came out of the Lincoln well and if things go the way they should I’d say there’s a very strong chance that he’ll go,” Martin added.
Shane Foley partnered Orandi at the Curragh when the 10-1 shot overcame a little interference at one point to beat Kortez Bay by three-parts-of-a-length.
Last year Chazzesmee started a 5-2 favourite to complete the Lincoln double but could manage only fifth at Doncaster.
Orandi’s Curragh success was a welcome boost for the Co Meath trainer who endured a turbulent 2024.
Martin regained his licence at the start of November having served a six-month suspension.
He had been given a three-month ban by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for breaching anti-doping rules, only to have it doubled after contravening certain sanctions by entering the winner’s enclosure at Newcastle in July.
In his absence, Martin’s sister, Cathy O’Leary, took over training the horses including when Alphonse Le Grande eventually won the Newmarket Cesarewitch having been originally disqualified for a breach of the whip rules and then reinstated.
“Any time is a good time when you’ve a decent horse and a winner of a good race. It’s just about getting lads good enough for races like that,” he said.
In other news, it has been confirmed that Gavin Sheehan will team up with Hewick in next month’s Randox Aintree Grand National.
The Cork rider won on the 2023 King George VI Chase on the popular Shark Hanlon-trained horse, who recently regained winning form over hurdles at Thurles.
“We only really made the decision last night to go with Gavin, who knows the English tracks very well, is riding out of his skin and has nearly 90 winners this year,” said Hanlon. “It was a tough call, it was hard on Jordan [Gainford] as well, but I rang him, explained to him and he took it like a man. Not a nice call to make but he’ll be back on him again.”
