Lincoln Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Explore the prestigious Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster, a competitive one-mile race marking the start of the Flat season. Delve into past winners, top trainers, and jockeys while uncovering key trends that shape this historic event, showcasing elite talent in a thrilling handicap.
Lincoln Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.

2025 Lincoln Handicap Preview

The Lincoln Handicap kicks off the Flat season at Doncaster racecourse in the first leg of what punters know as the 'Spring Double' where you look to back the winners of both the Lincoln and the Grand National which are on consecutive weekends. The race is run over a straight mile at Doncaster, it is open to four-year-old runners or older.

The race was first run back in 1853 at the Lincoln racecourse but was moved to Doncaster in 1965 when the Lincoln racecourse was closed. Only two runners have ever won this race twice, Ob in 1906 & 1907 and then Babur in 1957 & 1958.

William Haggas' success with Addeybb in 2018 tied him as the most successful trainer in the race with four winners, equalling Jack Robinson's number of winners. Whilst Doncaster underwent redevelopment, the race was held at Redcar (2006) and Newcastle (2007).

Lincoln Handicap Information:

If you are interested in other predictions at Doncaster then head over to the Doncaster tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at Doncaster Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Lincoln Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2014 when the race had an over-round of 117%. The race in 2023 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 135%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Lincoln Handicap, the over-round has been 130%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £130 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2025 Lincoln Handicap Trends, see which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal, we also have a section that looks at the Lincoln Handicap Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Lincoln Handicap over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Expresso Star (1:36.51) in 2009
  2. Auxerre (1:36.82) in 2019
  3. Johan (1:37.34) in 2022

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Lincoln Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -16.50. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 Lincoln Handicap.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2023 renewal when Migration from David Menuisier under the guidance of Benoit De La Sayette, won in a time of 1:47.86, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Expresso Star, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Jimmy Fortune set the quickest time of 1:36.51 in the 2009 renewal.

What the expert says...
Of the winners between 2004 and 2024, all bar one of those went on to run again, however, their form is not great, only Addeybb (2018) went on to win next time out winning the Sandown Mile.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Lincoln Handicap Past Winners

Here are the Lincoln Handicap past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Lincoln Handicap are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2024
1:44.00
Mr Professor (IRE)
5yo 8-8 (2 of 20) 33/1
David Egan
Dominic Ffrench Davis (GB)
2023
1:47.86
Migration (IRE)
7yo 9-9 (12 of 22) 18/1
Benoit De La Sayette (3lbs)
David Menuisier (GB)
2022
1:37.34
Johan (GB)
5yo 9-4 (4 of 22) 28/1
Silvestre De Sousa
Mick Channon (GB)
2021
1:38.26
Haqeeqy (IRE)
4yo 8-12 (10 of 18) 9/2
Benoit De La Sayette (7lbs)
John & Thady Gosden (GB)
2019
1:36.82
Auxerre (IRE)
4yo 9-3 (17 of 19) 5/2F
James Doyle
Charlie Appleby (GB)
2018
1:43.56
Addeybb (IRE)
4yo 9-2 (10 of 20) 5/1
James Doyle
William Haggas (GB)
2017
1:38.38
Bravery (IRE)
4yo 9-1 (20 of 22) 20/1
Daniel Tudhope
David O'Meara (GB)
2016
1:46.25
Secret Brief (IRE)
4yo 9-4 (22 of 22) 12/1
William Buick
Charlie Appleby (GB)
2015
1:39.62
Gabrial (IRE)
6yo 9-0 (15 of 22) 12/1
Tony Hamilton
Richard Fahey (GB)
2014
1:40.17
Ocean Tempest (GB)
5yo 9-3 (3 of 17) 20/1
Adam Kirby
John Ryan (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Lincoln Handicap have been based:

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 59 placings from 418 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 8 runners
  • UAE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Lincoln Handicap Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Lincoln Handicap over the last 20 renewals is William Haggas who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Very Wise (2007), Penitent (2010) and Addeybb (2018). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Lincoln Handicap are Richard Fahey (2 wins), John Quinn (2 wins) and Charlie Appleby (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Lincoln Handicap, Kevin Ryan (0-12), Andrew Balding (0-10), David Barron (0-10) and K R Burke (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.

Here are some of the top Lincoln Handicap trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
William Haggas11-3-5+9.00+7.39
Richard Fahey41-2-11-2.00+8.76
John Quinn12-2-3+32.00+19.50
Charlie Appleby4-2-2+12.50+7.06
David O'Meara19-1-7+2.00+15.70
John Ryan8-1-2+13.00+12.25
John Gosden8-1-1-3.67-4.92
Michael Dods5-1-2+12.00+8.50
David Menuisier3-1-1+16.00+9.25
Sir Michael Stoute3-1-1+3.00+1.13

Lincoln Handicap Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the Lincoln Handicap over the last 20 renewals with Tony Hamilton, James Doyle and Benoit De La Sayette having all won the race two times. Tony Hamilton winners have been with Brae Hill (2012) and Gabrial (2015). James Doyle winners have been with Addeybb (2018) and Auxerre (2019). Benoit De La Sayette winners have been with Haqeeqy (2021) and Migration (2023).

Here are some of the top Lincoln Handicap jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Tony Hamilton10-2-5+29.00+23.76
James Doyle5-2-3+4.50+2.75
Benoit De La Sayette3-2-2+21.50+13.06
Daniel Tudhope8-1-4+13.00+12.07
Joe Fanning7-1-2+3.00+3.26
Silvestre De Sousa6-1-1+23.00+12.50
Adam Kirby5-1-3+16.00+17.13
Jimmy Quinn5-1-3+6.00+7.75
David Egan2-1-2+32.00+21.63
William Buick2-1-1+11.00+6.50

Lincoln Handicap Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +35.83 is when runners ran in a race restricted to 3yo+ last time out.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 1 season start, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-74.

Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:

  • 2024: Winner in 2 (14,1,19) [20 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 12 (17,4,16) [22 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 4 (3,19,1) [22 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 10 (15,1,9) [18 Runners]
  • 2019: Winner in 17 (22,14,11) [19 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Lincoln Handicap is Newmarket (Rowley), there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (Rowley) last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Meydan, there has been a total number of 3 winners of this race who ran at Meydan last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 417 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 10 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Lincoln Handicap, that stallion Pivotal has produced 2 winners (2018,2013).

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Lincoln Handicap despite multiple attempts:

  • Invincible Spirit (0 Wins from 9 runners)
  • Footstepsinthesand (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Clodovil (0 Wins from 6 runners)
  • Danehill Dancer (0 Wins from 6 runners)
  • Dutch Art (0 Wins from 6 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Mr Professor in 2024, winning for Dominic Ffrench Davis at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of David Egan. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 4 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2025 Lincoln Handicap why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?

Route to the Lincoln Handicap

Many trainers will target races to use as prep races before coming to the Lincoln Handicap, these are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2024 - Mr Professor
Chelmsford (AW) - 6th of 7 (12/1)
Christmas Party Nights Handicap
2023 - Migration
Newmarket (Rowley) - 4th of 8 (9/2)
National Stud Welcomes Stradivarius James Seymour Stakes
2022 - Johan
Ascot - 11th of 20 (33/1)
Balmoral Handicap
2021 - Haqeeqy
Doncaster - 1st of 13 (12/1)
City of Doncaster Handicap
2019 - Auxerre
Kempton (AW) - 1st of 9 (2/1)
32Red.com Handicap
2018 - Addeybb
Newmarket (Rowley) - 1st of 16 (7/2)
Shadwell Farm Handicap
2017 - Bravery
Naas - 12th of 12 (8/1)
Profile Systems Naas October Handicap
2016 - Secret Brief
Meydan - 3rd of 16 (16/1)
Jaguar XF
2015 - Gabrial
Leicester - 1st of 10 (6/1)
SIS Handicap
2014 - Ocean Tempest
Meydan - 11th of 16 (66/1)
Burj Nahaar Sponsored By Emirates Holidays

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Lincoln Handicap Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for Flat Racing.

James Banting

James Banting

Tipster Competition Assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content Editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for flat racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful flat racing blogs for OLBG.

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