Hayden Barnes and Larry Lincoln (1) get up on the post to nail brother Brendan on the favourite Royal Aurora. Master Catch is third.
Proud dad Al watches as his sons Hayden and Brendan fight it out, Larry taking line honours
By Barry Lichter • 27 February 2021
“I really like this horse. I wish there were another half dozen like him I could get from New Zealand.”
Trainer Al Barnes wasn’t holding back on the superlatives after Larry Lincoln won his seventh race from only 17 starts in Brisbane for Lincoln Farms tonight.
“He’s the perfect little racehorse. He’s got that high speed.”
Larry Lincoln provided Barnes with the perfect climax to a terrific month at Albion Park which has seen Larry win twice and Lincoln Farms stablemates Northview Hustler and Bondi Shake also salute the judge for a monthly haul of $33,000.
And he admitted to a sense of pride watching one son Hadyen get Larry up in a driving finish to nose out his other son Brendan on the favourite Royal Aurora.
Larry Lincoln clocked a mile rate of 1:54.7 for the 1660 metres, sprinting home in 55.5 and 27.2, but Barnes says he can hardly wait for the horse to progress even further up the grades.
“He’s won two metro races now but when he gets into free-for-alls and they go a bit quicker, running 1:53 and 1:52, he’ll be even better. We’ll be able to put him on the fence and he’ll come from off the speed and earn a cheque every week.”
The official margin was a head in favour of Larry Lincoln.The little prizefighter who has now earned A$41,782 since arriving in Queensland, sat in the trail the entire way, a plan Barnes hatched to take out of play what he considered his main danger, the Grant Dixon-trained Master Catch.
“The horse who could beat us was the one behind us in the running and, when we took a sit instead of leading, it put him three deep and out of the race. I love it when a plan comes off like that.”
Barnes said Larry Lincoln was really feeling good, even after the race when he was “prancing and carrying on” while being walked.
While Barnes has expressed interest in buying the horse from Lincoln Farms, whose business plan favours selling all the stock it sends to Queensland, his hopes of putting together a syndicate had come to nothing so far despite plenty of interest.
“I’d love to buy him. He’s so easy to do anything with and he’s improving all the time.”
The Sweet Lou - Yolo gelding, who won by a head, paid $2.90 on the tote, drifting out to start only second favourite despite his super impressive win a week earlier.
More news in Harness
Debbie lands Golden draw at last in her bid to give Sampson a haircut at the Park
Spiritual Bliss and Lincoln Maree add to Lincoln Farms’ gallery of Manawatu heroes
Video clue on why Lincoln Lover is tipped to go boldly fresh-up at Auckland on Friday night
A picture of Bliss but poor Harry’s arms were nearly pulled out of their sockets
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 3: Lincoln Downs
6.22pm
“She got home really well on the second night at Manawatu and gets a good draw here. There’s not much exposed form in the race so it’s hard to know how she compares but she’ll win one.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 3: Debbie Lincoln
7.01pm
“I thought she went super again last week with no luck and we’ve got a decent draw for a change so you have to like her chances. She’s been getting in on the corners, so we’ve added a Murphy blind.”
Race 3: Tyson
7.01pm
“I was impressed by the way he hung on to Captain Sampson and Greased Lightnin last week. They’re strong sprinters and it was only a sprint up the straight. He’ll need things to go his way from six.”
Race 3: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.01pm
“It was his first run for a while last week and he probably needed another trial. But we thought we might as well race him to set him up for this week. The outside draw of eight doesn’t help.”
Race 9: Lincoln Lover
9.55pm
“He’s not as sharp as our other two but he’s a game little bugger. He’ll win races for sure.”
Race 9: Prince Lincoln
9.55pm
“I thought he went really well last week. He’d had only one trial and was a bit fresh so it was understandable that he got tired the last bit. That will tighten him up and I’m expecting him to race well. He’s trained on well since.”
Race 9: Johnny Lincoln
9.55pm
“Prince has the wood on Johnny but he’ll still go well. He found the line well last week. It was his first run for a while too, and his first as a gelding.”
