Lincoln King on one-way ticket to Australia tomorrow - and we may even see him jump

Rotorua Cup scratching Lincoln King will be on a plane to Australia tomorrow - and he won’t be coming back.

Pulled out of the weekend’s feature because of the very heavy track, Lincoln King will join Kathryn Durden’s stable at Moriac outside of Geelong in Victoria.

And not that Lincoln Farms needed any further motivation to seek better tracks and much richer prizemoney, yesterday’s result at Ballarat with Platinum Spirit only served to frank the move.

Despite not having raced for four and a half months and still being fat, Platinum Spirit ran second as a $61 outsider, earning A$7200.

It brought his earnings since moving to the Durden camp to more than A$100,000 from just 13 starts to add to the $59,972 he earned in New Zealand from 31 starts.

Lincoln Farms and its partners in the horse believe Lincoln King will be well suited to the Australian staying races.

Racing manager and part-owner Ian Middleton knows that, as an eight-year-old, Lincoln King won’t be competing in races like the Melbourne Cup.

“But there are plenty of country cups over there worth a lot of money. He might be eight but he’s had only 38 starts and when he’s on his game he’s a pretty useful stayer.”

Wellington Cup triumph … Ian Middleton, second from left, and Tanya Goss, partner of Bill Gleeson, are flanked by Trelawney Stud’s Brent Taylor and Faith Taylor as Lincoln King returns to scale. PHOTO: Peter Rubery/Race Images.Winner of the 2022 Wellington Cup and pipped half a head in the 2020 New Zealand Cup, Lincoln King showed he was no spent force when an unlucky third in the Avondale Cup at Pukekohe in February.

“He’ll do OK over there and, if not, we can fall back on jumps.”

Trainer and part-owner Stephen Marsh has been schooling Lincoln King recently as part of a mixed programme and the horse has shown plenty of aptitude.

He is in the right stable should he take up that role - Kathryn and Craig Durden are best known for preparing now retired star jumper Wells, winner of three Grand National Steeplechases.

Lincoln King’s record for Marsh, John and Lynne Street, Middleton, Bill Gleeson’s Wellfield Lodge and Peter Gillespie stands at six wins and eight placings for $375,125 in stakes.