Proud dad Al watches as his sons Hayden and Brendan fight it out, Larry taking line honours

“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.