The Lincoln is the first feature (Heritage) handicap of the season and traditionally takes place at Doncaster on the opening Saturday of the new turf campaign. It is open to thoroughbreds aged four years old or older and is run over a distance of one mile.
A race called the Lincolnshire Handicap was first run over two miles at Lincoln in August, 1849. In 1853, a new fixture was staged at Lincoln in February and featured a race called the Lincoln Spring Handicap, run over a mile and a half.
Trends & Statistics (Last 10 Years)
2018 – ADDEYBB (5/1)
2017 – BRAVERY (20/1)
2016 – SECRET BRIEF (12/1)
2015 – GABRIAL (12/1)
2014 – OCEAN TEMPEST (33/1)
2013 – LEVITATE (20/1)
2012 – BRAE HILL (25/1)
2011 – SWEET LIGHTNING (16/1)
2010 – PENITENT (3/1 fav)
2009 – EXPRESSO STAR (10/3 fav)
Age:
Four to six year olds have dominated the last ten years of this race with four-year-olds leading the way in recent years.
If you are a fan of the older sprinter then it is worth noting that there has only been one winner aged six years old or over in the past twenty years. That would be a negative for Safe Voyage, Zwayyan, Waarif, Chiefofchiefs, Breden, Chatez and Third Time Lucky.
Weight:
8 of the last 10 winners carried between 9st 0lbs and 9st 4lbs.
Rating:
Eight of the last winners were officially rated 95 to 102.
Previous Form:
- Five of the past ten winners had won one of their last two turf starts.
- Seven of the past ten winners were having their first run of the year.
- Eight of the past ten winners had previously won a race worth more than £11,000 some time in their career.
- Only one of the past ten winners had previously won at Doncaster.
The Main Contenders:
The ante post favourite for some time has been Godolphin owned Auxerre. The drying ground will be right up his street it could prove to be that the four-year-old is what many would describe as a “handicap snip”.
Auxerre has had just four career starts and he has won the last three of them, the last two being at Chelmsford and Kempton. His turf runs at Newmarket and Haydock were both on good to firm ground so Doncaster’s drying ground will be ideal. His trainer Charlie Appleby is seeking a second win in the race and Auxerre has a real sound chance of obliging for him.
Another horse who has attracted plenty of cash this week is Kynren from the Yorkshire stable of David Barron who won the race back in 1991 with Amenable. The five-year-old ran well in several big-field handicaps last season including sixth place in Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire.
Trainer David Elsworth had his one and only winner in this race back in 1983 with Mighty Fly and will be hoping to bridge that gap with his consistent gelding Ripp Orf.
Hayley Turner feels she has a good chance of being only the second female jockey to win the Lincoln when she partners Ripp Orf this Saturday.
Alex Greaves rode Amenable (as mentioned above) to victory in 1991, and Turner is looking forward to reuniting with the five-year-old for more success together. She has ridden the gelding a total of five times and has only been out of the first three once.
David O’Meara’s Humbert is also worthy of serious consideration. The five-year-old won four times for his previous trainer Hugo Palmer and although he has yet to score on the turf he has finished runner-up three times.
Humbert finished second in the Spring Mile over C&D last season and he followed that a month later by just going down by the smallest of margins in the Newbury Spring Cup. He is effective over a mile and he has shown he is entirely at home in a big field. O’Meara last won this race in 2017 and does particularly well with horses that have come to him from another stable.
The Alan King-trained Beringer is an interesting recruit to the handicapping scene this season after his three-year-old season did not quite live up to expectations.
His run behind Wissahickon last season speaks for itself and Alan King often gets overlooked when it comes down to these big handicaps but plunders quite a few when people are least expecting it. The Sea The Stars gelding looked well overpriced in the betting earlier in the week but a few shrewdies appear to have cottoned on to him and his price has contracted.
South Seas will be having his first start for Philip Kirby on Saturday having been bought by his new owners for a cool 150,000 guineas a few months ago.
Running off a mark of 100 it would not be against the realms of possibility that Kirby could reignite some of the old juvenile form that was evident in this gelding.
Winning the Solario Stakes and runner-up in the Criterium International to Thunder Snow are excellent form lines and Jamie Spencer is an interesting jockey booking.
Silvestre de Sousa teams up with Andrew Balding to ride the King Power owned Zwayyan. Formerly trained by William Haggas, King Power bought him for 100,000 guineas in October 2017 and he has since won twice for his renowned Leicester City connections.
The six-year-old won the Lincoln Trial at Wolverhampton earlier this month and he is sure to come on for the run.
CONCLUSION:
Auxerre could quite simply blow away the opposition here, but if you are looking for a fairly solid each-way proposition then Ripp Orf gets the nod from us.
888sport suggests: Ripp Orf (e/w).
*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*
