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.
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Dreams Of Eric goes from black and blue to blue and white, now for Harness 5000
Our runners this week: How our trainer rates them
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Tyson
6.59pm
“He was tough again in winning last week. He’s trained on well, is in good shape, and should be right in it.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
6.59pm
“He’s finally getting his act together - he’s gone three good races in a row - and seemingly turned the corner. We’ve had a lot of (vet) work done on him, his feet in particular, and it’s paid off. There’s not much between him and Tyson.”
Race 5: Rivergirl Bella
7.23pm
“She’ll need everything to go her way from the draw. But she’s got a bit of speed. She’s getting there. She wasn’t very strong before and wasn’t tracking too well, but she’s driving right now.”
Race 5: Lincoln Linda
7.23pm
“She’s had a few issues, mostly mental ones, and is still a bit of a handful. It wasn’t very pretty last week but we’re slowly getting her under control. The outside draw might actually help her.”
Race 5: Angelic Copy
7.23pm
“She needs only a half decent trip to feature. She got held up a little bit in the straight at a crucial time last week and that was that.”
Race 6: Prince Lincoln
7.49pm
“He’s drawn the best of ours in three. He got cheated for a run last week. It’s hard to know where he’d have finished without that.”
Race 6: Lincoln Lover
7.49pm
“Ferg reckoned if he’d been able to hold up in the trail last week he would have won. He was very bullish about how he’d gone. The draw’s no help but he can do a bit of work. He’s an honest little guy who saves his best for when the money’s up on racenight.”
Race 6: Johnny Lincoln
7.49pm
“He got a bit keen last week but he should be a lot better this time. He’s still learning and he’s a slow learner. When he does things correctly he’s a pretty nice horse. Hopefully he can get a suck into it from the second row draw.”
