Prince has timekeepers reaching for record books again but where does his future lie?

“He could go quite a long way - to America would be best.”

Driver Peter Ferguson’s assessment of Prince Lincoln brought a sobering reality to what the future might hold for Lincoln Farms’ latest headliner after his third lightning bolt win in recent weeks.

After scoring blistering 1700 metre wins at Auckland and Cambridge, the Always B Miki gelding had timekeepers checking the record books again when he cleared out to a seven and a half length annihilation on Friday night.

Prince Lincoln’s time of 2:38.14 for the 2200 metres, a mile rate of 1:55.6, was just 0.44 of a second outside the Cambridge three-year-old track record set by Follow The Stars in 2015.

It followed a six and a half length clinic at Alexandra Park last month when his 1:53.6 mile rate came within 13 one-hundredths of a second of Greased Lightning’s three-year-old track mark.

And in his previous four and three-quarter length win at Cambridge, when he ran 2:00.32, a mile rate of 1:53.8, his time kissed Hadron Collider’s three-year-old record of 1:59.5.

“He’s very capable when he can lead and do his own thing,” Ferguson said.

“But I’ve driven him before when he couldn’t get out of his own way. A while back I offered to take him as a GP if they wanted to get rid of him.”

Ferguson said finding the right races for Prince Lincoln - where he could escape bad trips from bad draws - had seemingly seen the horse grow in confidence.

“I used to shake my head - when he was in the field he’d stay with his friends - but he’s turned the corner.

“Putting the block blinds on has got him going too.”

But it wasn’t just a case of Prince Lincoln bolting in front on Friday night.

“He settled himself in the middle half and you’ve actually got to wake him up to get him to run. It’s like he’s half asleep, then you wake him up when you’re ready.”

Ferguson had to burn plenty of petrol at the start to cross from seven and admitted he was worried he might not get there when What’s My Choice, Captain Moonlight and Cyamate all came out fast.

“I didn’t really want to be going that hard over 2200 metres but the 40.9 lead time wasn’t too bad - he’s done that before.

“He was a bit tired at the end but did it well.”

Ferguson can see the day approaching, however, when trainers Ray Green and Nathan Delany will struggle to find suitable races for Prince Lincoln.

“He’s a R46 now, so he could quickly get another win or perhaps two, but as soon as he’s over R50 he’ll be in trouble.”

With the lack of horses, particularly in the north, Prince Lincoln would face the demon of preferential barrier draws and then be forced to tackle standing starts.

“In the old days you could win a lot more races here with a horse like him but I’d say his future lies somewhere else now.”

Prince Lincoln, who has won four races and $66,360, is raced by Lincoln Farms owners John and Lynne Street, Ian Middleton, Lance Myocevich, the Green Machine Racing Syndicate, the Excell Syndicate, Brad Baine, Alana Rabbitt, the estate of Margaret Rabbitt and the Athenry Syndicate.