Billy Lincoln (Hayden Barnes) notched three wins and three seconds from only seven starts in Queensland. PHOTO: Dan Costello.
First Lincoln’s Girl, now Billy - the Americans’ appetite for Lincoln Farms horses grows
By Barry Lichter • 26 November 2019
Improving three-year-old Billy Lincoln has been sold to the United States - and his Marburg trainer Al Barnes admits he’s sorry to see the horse go.
The Bettor’s Delight three-year-old will follow in the footsteps of another Barnes graduate, Lincoln’s Girl, to the same American owner who has enjoyed three wins and a third with the mare since her arrival.
Billy Lincoln is headed for the New Jersey barn of former Australian Tahn Camilleri who races predominantly in the Northeast and has had recent success with Breeders’ Crown elimination winner Dancing Lou.
Billy Lincoln left New Zealand in September worth very little with a zero from four formline but made an instant hit in Queensland where he has racked up three wins and three seconds from only seven starts, his sole failure when all at sea on the tricky Redcliffe track.
Al Barnes … Billy promising but you couldn’t turn down the money.And now he has fetched a healthy five figures, a sum which Barnes says, despite the horse’s promise, you simply couldn’t turn down.
“In another three months I reckon he’ll be a different horse. And I know it’s a big call but he might have made a derby horse in six months.
“He’s just got better and better and better. And there’s still so much improvement left in him.
“But after an offer like we got he had to go. If he got to the next level and stopped improving we’d have missed the boat.”
Barnes says Billy Lincoln’s last run at Albion Park when he dropped out early, circled the field, and kept fighting for driver Hayden Barnes when everything else was done, showed just how much he’d come on since arriving in Queensland.
“He had a tough run against some handy horses and still ran great.”
Billy Lincoln is scheduled to leave Marburg on Thursday for Melbourne and will be on a flight to the United States next week, the fourth horse to be sold after being cultivated for Lincoln Farms by Barnes, Trojan Banner and Vasari leaving earlier in the year.
Barnes is in no doubt that Lincoln’s Girl’s success in North America clinched the deal and says the agent is already asking “which one of Lincoln Farms’ horses can we buy next?”
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Our runners this week
Friday night at Cambridge
Onyx Shard, Commander Lincoln, Lincoln La Moose.
Our runners this week: How our trainer rates them
Ray’s comments
Tuesday at Auckland
Race 2: Colonel Lincoln
3.39pm
“He’s a beautiful horse, and a quality mover, who’s finally demonstrating his ability. He’s done a lot of work and has had a good, solid build-up so he’ll cop a bit of racing now and I don’t see why he won’t be in it again.”
Race 2: Frisco Bay
3.39pm
“If you put him in front or in the breeze he over-races. He needs a run where he can relax in behind - every time he’s got a two-hole trip he’s won. He’s a bit one-dimensional in that respect but he’s got a lot of speed and, if he’d drawn better, I’d have labelled him.”
Race 3: Lincoln Lou
4.04pm
“On paper, he should be favourite. You can’t fault that last run in the Golden Gait and if he repeats that he’s the one to beat. He seems to be back to where we had him before. He’s been incredibly unlucky in a lot of his races. We don’t need good luck, we’re just looking for no bad luck.”
Race 3: Kevin Kline
4.04pm
“I can’t see him beating our other two. I don’t think we’ll see the best of him until well into his three-year-old year. He’s a big, rangy, slow developing horse. We’ll race him on Tuesday then give him a bit of a break.”
Race 3: Debbie Lincoln
4.04pm
“I know this is a step-up in grade, and she’s drawn the outside, but I’ve got a feeling she could be up to it. Her driver, Maurice McKendry, is very enthusiastic about her and he’s no fool. He’s been happy every time he’s sat behind her. She keeps getting better and potentially could be a high class three-year-old filly. I’m quite excited about her.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
4.30pm
“He won’t burn off any quick beginners but he showed he could hold his own from the inside when he won two starts back. He’s just got to do it without doing anything tricky. He can pace roughly, he’s not the complete package yet, but when the penny drops he’ll be a serious horse.”
Race 9: The Big Lebowski
7.17pm
“I wasn’t disappointed with his last run. It’s hard to win those races from long back marks at Cambridge - Copy That had to go a New Zealand record to do it. He’s as good as he can be at the moment but these are the best horses in commission and we’ll be grateful for what we can get.”
