After being given a 50-50 chance of survival, Lincoln Square has made a winning debut at Caulfield.
The Greg Eurell -trained gelding took out the Thomas North Handicap (1200m) on Saturday after an operation took a nasty turn late last year.
Eurell said Lincoln Square underwent a gelding operation late in the spring and was making a steady recovery when unexpectedly he began to haemorrhage.
“It was a challenging situation,” Eurell said.
“He was gelded late spring, and everything went fine, but four days later a haemorrhage ruptured, and he was in a very bad way and it was 50-50 whether he’d survive or not.
“He took a bit to recover, he kept making good progress week by week and was really starting to improve.
“We would’ve liked to have had him in earlier but that came out of left field.
“I think he’s done an enormous job today and getting that win under his belt gives us a good opportunity to plan ahead.”
Ridden by Jye Mcneil, Lincoln Square ($7) led throughout in scoring a two-length win from Liberty Steps ($4.40) with Merchant Prince ($4.60) a half-length away third.
Eurell said in time he believes Lincoln Square will have no trouble stretching out to 1600m.
“The horse travels lovely and even though he was forward he wasn’t chewing at the bridle,” Eurell said.
“Once he learns a little bit more about the caper I’d think he can get out to 1600m.”
McNeil, who sits at the top of the Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership with a comfortable lead over Jamie Kah, was taken with the win of Lincoln Square.
“He had a great attitude, he did everything 100% correct and he felt as though in the straight he had gears to go through,” McNeil said.
“He was only cruising, so his future looks bright.”
