Atta boy Tommy! Ants really impressed by tonight’s tough all-the-way win in 1:52.7

The way Tommy Lincoln felt at Albion Park tonight, top driver Anthony Butt said he knew he’d take pegging back.

And Butt was proven right when arguably Lincoln Farms’ most popular pacer set the pace again and staved off home stretch challenges inside and out to claim his third win from four starts in Brisbane.

“He felt really good tonight, very sharp,” Butt said. “He’s got better with every run, like all the team.”

Butt said even though he turned for home barely a length in front of favourite Crunch Time and trailer Fairy Tinkabell, he was actually more confident than when the horse won his previous start.

Anthony Butt brings Tommy Lincoln back after his third win at Albion Park.“His manners were really good. He settled really well in front and got into a nice rhythm.

“I knew when they came at him he’d have a kick and take a bit of getting past. He had nice horses all around him, in the chair and in the trail, so he did well to hold them off.”

At the post Tommny Lincoln had a neck to spare over Fairy Tinkabell, with a head to Crunch Time, clocking the very good mile rate of 1:52.7 for the 1660 metres.

“That’s a good time round here, they don’t go much faster than that,” Butt said.

Tommy Lincoln reeled off quarters of 27.7, 29.8, 28 and 27.4, Butt impressed again by the horse’s early speed.

“With that gate speed of his he should do really well over here, especially now the carnival has finished and all the inter-state horses will go home.”

Tommy Lincoln staves off Fairy Tinkabell, inner, and Crunch Time.Tommy Lincoln will continue to race from the stable of Mark Dux, who has hosted the Lincoln Farms team at the winter carnival.

Tonight’s win was the 11th of his 33 start career, giving him an impressive winning strike rate of 33.3%.

The A$11,655 winner’s purse took his Brisbane bankroll to A$24,233, winning three of his four starts.

That, added to the $97,515 he earned in New Zealand, has been a terrific return for Lincoln Farms’ owners John and Lynne Street and their partners in the horse, Ian Middleton, Shannon and Brenda Flay, Ian, Kathy and Daniel Parkinson, Debbie Sparks, Ray Menzies and Denis Ebert.

The American Ideal - Tania Tandias four-year-old cost just $10,000 as a weanling.