Billy Lincoln (Hayden Barnes) notched three wins and three seconds from only seven starts in Queensland. PHOTO: Dan Costello.
First Lincoln’s Girl, now Billy - the Americans’ appetite for Lincoln Farms horses grows
By Barry Lichter • 26 November 2019
Improving three-year-old Billy Lincoln has been sold to the United States - and his Marburg trainer Al Barnes admits he’s sorry to see the horse go.
The Bettor’s Delight three-year-old will follow in the footsteps of another Barnes graduate, Lincoln’s Girl, to the same American owner who has enjoyed three wins and a third with the mare since her arrival.
Billy Lincoln is headed for the New Jersey barn of former Australian Tahn Camilleri who races predominantly in the Northeast and has had recent success with Breeders’ Crown elimination winner Dancing Lou.
Billy Lincoln left New Zealand in September worth very little with a zero from four formline but made an instant hit in Queensland where he has racked up three wins and three seconds from only seven starts, his sole failure when all at sea on the tricky Redcliffe track.
Al Barnes … Billy promising but you couldn’t turn down the money.And now he has fetched a healthy five figures, a sum which Barnes says, despite the horse’s promise, you simply couldn’t turn down.
“In another three months I reckon he’ll be a different horse. And I know it’s a big call but he might have made a derby horse in six months.
“He’s just got better and better and better. And there’s still so much improvement left in him.
“But after an offer like we got he had to go. If he got to the next level and stopped improving we’d have missed the boat.”
Barnes says Billy Lincoln’s last run at Albion Park when he dropped out early, circled the field, and kept fighting for driver Hayden Barnes when everything else was done, showed just how much he’d come on since arriving in Queensland.
“He had a tough run against some handy horses and still ran great.”
Billy Lincoln is scheduled to leave Marburg on Thursday for Melbourne and will be on a flight to the United States next week, the fourth horse to be sold after being cultivated for Lincoln Farms by Barnes, Trojan Banner and Vasari leaving earlier in the year.
Barnes is in no doubt that Lincoln’s Girl’s success in North America clinched the deal and says the agent is already asking “which one of Lincoln Farms’ horses can we buy next?”
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Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.40pm
“She’s going as good as she can. She’s got a bit of speed but isn’t that strong. But she should get a nice trip here and be right in the frame. She’ll win one soon.”
Race 1: Jessie Lincoln
5.40pm
“She’s a big filly who has taken time to mature but she has plenty of ability. She’s a good pacer and I expect her to improve on her resuming run and go well.”
Race 1: Lincoln Dealer
5.40pm
“He’s a bit of a handful, too keen for his own good sometimes, so I’ll be happy to see him just get round and do most things right. He’s no superstar but he’s coming to it slowly but surely. We’re throwing him in the deep end here and he has a terrible draw but we have to start somewhere.”
Race 4: Lincoln Maree
7.04pm
“She’s as tough as old boots and tries like hell and you can’t ask for much more than that. She just lacks a bit of speed but has a good attitude. She usually finds one or two better than her but will make them work for it anyway.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Prince Lincoln
4.56pm
“He’ll be improved for the last run, has trialled and is working well, and has a better draw (the ace) this time. You just have to be a bit wary because he’s let us down a couple of times.”
Race 3: Angelic Copy
5.56pm
“She had a tie-up issue but seems much better now. It’s her first run for a while so she’ll definitely need the run. I’m just hoping she gets around all right and pulls up OK.”
Race 3: Colonel Lincoln
5.56pm
“He’s a very capable horse, if injury prone, and he’s been back in work for three or four months. You never say never but, realistically, he’s just starting off so you can’t expect him to be at his peak.”
Race 5: Sammy Lincoln
6.55pm
“I know I said it two starts back but if there’s such a thing as a certainty, he’s it. Even from seven on the gate, everything says he’s the one to beat. If he hadn’t gone a bit goofy up the home straight last time in the Sires’ Stakes Semi at Cambridge, he’d have easily run third. This is a huge drop in class.”
Race 7: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.58pm
“I expect he’ll be a bit sharper this time. He’s looking well and feeling good but I still think another run under his belt will be beneficial for him. He’s not one to leap out of the ground but he is capable of taking the race.”
