Visor blinkers switch on Lincoln King in hard-fought first hurdles win at Ballarat

The addition of visor blinkers helped Lincoln King to his first win over hurdles at Ballarat on Sunday when he narrowly came out on top after a thrilling home stretch run.

Despite ploughing through the last fence, the nine-year-old kept fighting to the line for jockey Aaron Lynch to just nab Gunaluva and Kiwi hoop Aaron Kuru in a close photo finish.

Trainer Kathyrn Durden used the head gear in his first jumps outing this year after an inglorious display in his debut at Coleraine last August.

“He did on Sunday what I thought he’d do in his first start but at Coleraine he didn’t have visors, jumped from the barriers and never went.

“Most people with jumping horses start with nothing on -generally the jumps keep them focussed - but that didn’t work and he was off the bridle and chasing the whole way.”

The visors - blinkers with a slit that allow horses to see a little more - saw Lincoln King able to be planted right in the race from the outset on Sunday, Lynch pocketing him in the box seat, earning him racing.com’s “ride of the day”.

The two Aarons fight it out - Aaron Lynch on Lincoln King, outer, and Aaron Kuru on Gunaluva.But Lynch had to really get to work when he peeled three fences from home and Lincoln King immediately came off the bridle.

“He really made me work for it - he takes a bit of riding,” Lynch said. “I didn’t think I was going to reel the leader in but he kept coming and was good in the end.”

Durden was willing to forgive Lincoln King his last fence bungle.

“Novice jumping horses don’t know what to do under pressure. Being asked to run along at top speed is new to them, they’re never been asked to go that fast in trials.

“He jumped beautifully apart from the last fence.”

But watching the race, Durden saw Lincoln King come under pressure a long way out and thought he was going to run only third.

“He lacks a turn of foot but he kept hitting the line great and really needs it longer (than 3200 metres).”

Whether he gets that later in the season in a feature hurdle like the 4200 metre Grand National at Sandown in August or in a steeplechase race will depend on how he progresses.

But Durden isn’t about to make any outlandish plans for the $350,000 National after winning a single hurdle race.

Aaron Lynch … “I didn’t think I was going to reel him in.”“We know he stays but we’ll take it one race at a time. The National distance would be ideal but with these inexperienced (jumping) horses you have to wait and see how they cope with everything. It’s far too soon to say what he’s capable of.

“My reservation is he only just won and, while it was against nice enough horses, they weren’t top class. We’ll see how he goes in his next couple of starts.”

Lincoln King’s next start could be as soon as this Sunday with Durden considering another $A35,000 hurdle over 3200 metres at Pakenham.

“He pulled up well from Sunday so I’ll put in a nom but we’ll wait and see how he recovers this week.”

An alternative would be to wait until the Warrnambool meeting where he could run in the A$60,000 Champion Novice Hurdle (3200m) on May 2.

Incredibly, the A$21,450 stake Lincoln King won on Sunday boosted to A$51,260 the amount he has won since crossing the Tasman, despite it being his first time closer than fourth in nine starts.

The 2022 Wellington Cup winner now boasts a career bankroll of more than NZ$430,000 for Lincoln Farms’ owners John and Lynne Street, Peter Didham, Bill Gleeson, Peter Gillespie, Ian Middleton and his former trainer Stephen Marsh.