Lincoln’s Girl oh so brave and Al tips that’s just the start of a winning roll

Lincoln’s Girl surprised even trainer Al Barnes with her courageous win at Albion Park tonight when the finish was so close you could have thrown a blanket over the first nine home.

And so brave was the filly, Barnes now believes she can win another five or six races in the coming months for Lincoln Farms.

“She’s a lovely filly and tries so hard,” says Barnes. “I was really impressed with her tonight, I thought she was all out at the top of the straight.”

Barnes could have been forgiven for thinking the petrol tank would be empty turning for home after a brutal first half run in 55.7.

But it was the early burn that actually played into the hands of the highly strung filly, who, driven patiently by Hayden Barnes held her position until asked to sprint up three wide to lead at the bell.

It meant Lincoln’s Girl wasn’t pulling and over-racing, features of her recent racing over longer trips in the Oaks races.

“I knew she’d bounce back to form back in her right class as that’s her style of racing, out running and doing her own thing.”

But when Grant Dixon saw Barnes coming, he kicked up inside on Ark Me, knowing if he got to the front first, he’d earn a sweet trail behind the filly.

They’re coming from everywhere but Lincoln’s Girl holds on by two metres.Even with the extra exertion, Lincoln’s Girl still had plenty of fight up the straight, and she staved off a wall of attackers with eight horses lined across the track just behind her at the post, Ark Me and Hadley dead-heating for second and only noses back to Gold Reactor and Havana Moon.

Lincoln’s Girl, who paid $4.60 on the New Zealand tote, scored by two metres, clocking a slick 1:54.8 mile rate for the 1660 metres.

The game performance belied the fact Barnes spotted her pacing keenly in the warm-up, as darkness set in and the lights came on, a scenario he dreaded knowing she has a history of over-racing at night.

“But she’s getting better all the time and will only get better with more racing.

“She gets a mare’s concession of five points so is still on a pretty low rating and I think she can now go on and do what Trojan Banner did and win them in a row if I can find the right races for her.”

The A$4546 winning stake boosted Lincoln’s Girl’s earnings since she arrived in Queensland to A$25,673, a fine return for a filly who was considered weak when she arrived in the state earlier in the year.

And while Lincoln’s Girl might have a for sale sign on her, Barnes believes she will be worth even more money as she gets older and stronger.

“I’d love to keep her. I’d buy her myself if I had the money.”

The challengers are spread right across the track at the finish.