Take a bow Hayden, that’s a 10 out of 10 drive mate to get Lincoln’s Girl home in a sizzler

A 10 out of 10 drive from Hayden Barnes saw Lincoln’s Girl earn favouritism for next Friday’s $10,000 Pot Of Gold Final when she scored a sizzling 1:54.2 mile rate win at Albion Park today.

Barnes got a nice run through from two on the second row but stayed out of the mad early rush which saw the opening quarter cut out in 28 seconds flat.

Hayden Barnes … in top form.And with the opening half run in 57.7, the 23-year-old driver was able to get Lincoln Farms’ filly to settle nicely four back in the running line.

Barnes was awake to a three wide train starting behind him and launched the filly on a three wide solo run from the 800 which saw him range alongside the front-running hot favourite Cherrys The Best turning for home.

And just when you thought the effort would start to take its toll Lincoln’s Girl kicked strongly, reeling off a final quarter in 28.1 to beat Timeless Appeal by 3.3 metres.

Trainer Al Barnes, who had horses to work at home and listened to the race on his car radio on the way to the track, was delighted for both Lincoln’s Girl and his son.

“Hayden’s driving really well and I trust his judgement. He’s always had good hands but he’s thinking a lot more now and is putting his horses into the race at the right time.

“Of course it makes the job a lot easier when you’re driving quality stock. And Lincoln’s Girl has such a high cruising speed you can get round them without doing too much work.

Lincoln’s Girl holds on strongly to beat Timeless Appeal, Mister Diamond and hot favourite Cherrys The Best.“Sometimes you can ask them to sprint and when you let their mouths go, they only run for 200 metres. But Hayden didn’t have to let her mouth go today and kept her brave.

“She’s improving all the time - getting better and stronger.

“The key is getting her to settle. Now we’ve just got to get her to do that over 2100 metres and she’ll be a contender for the Oaks.

“I’m not saying she can win it but if she can settle, at least she can race in it. And that’s the goal now.

“We just have to get her to learn. She might fail a few times but I think she’ll cope with better races because they run along a bit more which suits her.’’

Barnes says his job will also be made easier by the fact Lincoln’ Girl is a fantastic eater and loves to back up.

“She’s going to be a nice mare when she gets older and at least now she has a good time alongside her name as a broodmare.’’

A round from home today and Lincoln’s Girl is nicely settled four back in the running line.Lincoln Girl’s time for the 1660 metres of 1:57.8 was a whopping 2.4 seconds faster than the winner of the second Pot Of Gold heat, Im No Outlaw who paced a mile rate of 1:56.5.

She has now won three race of her eight races in Australia for stakes of $A10,675, and has improved her time on each occasion. Her winning mile rates have been 1:56.4, 1:55.5 and now 1:54.2.

Lincoln’s Girl paid $8 in New Zealand and $7 in Australia.

Barnes reported a lot of money had come for Lincoln Farms’ stablemate Vasari who looks set to start a $1.65 favourite in the last race tonight.