Lincoln Trial Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

Looking ahead to the Lincoln Trial, which takes place over 1m½f at Wolverhampton, we dive into the history of the race to see which trainers and jockeys have dominated, and identify the statistical trends shaping the outcome of this year's renewal.
Lincoln Trial Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Expert Guide

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2026 Lincoln Trial Preview

Scheduled to take place in March of each year at the Wolverhampton Racecourse is the Lincoln Trial, a race that serves as a trial for the Lincoln Handicap run at Doncaster later in the month.

This class two handicap race is run on the all-weather track at Wolves over a distance of one mile and a half a furlong (1m143y). It is open to runners four or older and rated up to 105. The purse is ÂŁ50,000.

Lincoln Trial Information:

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Wolverhampton tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet?

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How competitive is the Lincoln Trial market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2011 when the race had an over-round of 114%. The race in 2007 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 129%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Lincoln Trial, the over-round has been 120%, which means the bookie expects to pay out ÂŁ100 for every ÂŁ120 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2026 Lincoln Trial 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 Trial Trend Analysis.

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

  1. Notre Belle Bete (1:46.19) in 2022
  2. Keystroke (1:46.31) in 2016
  3. Alrehb (1:46.41) in 2023

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 20 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Lincoln Trial next time out, then you would have backed a total of 0 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -19.00. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2026 Lincoln Trial.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2008 renewal when Re Barolo from Marco Botti under the guidance of Seb Sanders, won in a time of 1:50.10, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Notre Belle Bete, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by David Probert set the quickest time of 1:46.19 in the 2022 renewal.

What the expert says...
How good a trial is this for the Lincoln? Between 2009 & 2022, eight of the winners of this race went straight to the Lincoln, and their form figures read 30780079, which would suggest not very good!

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Lincoln Trial Past Winners

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

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2025
1:46.64
Symbol Of Light (GB)
6yo 9-11 (10 of 12) 7/1
Jason Watson
Julie Camacho (GB)
2024
1:47.93
Kingdom Come (IRE)
5yo 9-8 (8 of 11) 11/4F
Rossa Ryan
Clive Cox (GB)
2023
1:46.41
Alrehb (USA)
6yo 9-3 (4 of 13) 5/1
Daniel Muscutt
Kevin Philippart De Foy (GB)
2022
1:46.19
Notre Belle Bete (GB)
4yo 8-7 (11 of 12) 5/1
David Probert
Andrew Balding (GB)
2021
1:48.26
Born To Be Alive (IRE)
7yo 9-8 (10 of 13) 11/2
Clifford Lee
K R Burke (GB)
2020
1:47.49
Assimilation (IRE)
4yo 8-8 (6 of 12) 12/1
Luke Morris
Ed Walker (GB)
2019
1:47.31
Zwayyan (GB)
6yo 9-2 (4 of 13) 7/1
David Probert
Andrew Balding (GB)
2018
1:47.95
Big Country (IRE)
5yo 9-9 (10 of 11) 8/1
Luke Morris
Michael Appleby (GB)
2017
1:47.89
Nimr (GB)
4yo 8-13 (8 of 13) 3/1F
Tony Hamilton
Richard Fahey (GB)
2016
1:46.31
Keystroke (GB)
4yo 8-12 (2 of 12) 4/1F
Jim Crowley
Jeremy Noseda (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 39 placings from 240 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 3 runners

Lincoln Trial Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Lincoln Trial over the last 20 renewals is Andrew Balding, who has won the race two times, with those two winners coming from Zwayyan (2019) and Notre Belle Bete (2022). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Lincoln Trial; Stuart Williams has sent a total of 12 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Lincoln Trial 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
Andrew Balding6-2-3+8.00+4.43
Richard Fahey15-1-5-11.00-5.47
David Simcock12-1-3-5.50-1.74
Michael Appleby10-1-4-1.00+0.25
Marco Botti8-1-6+1.00+3.04
David Barron7-1-2-3.75-3.40
K R Burke5-1-1+1.50-0.56
Ed Walker4-1-1+9.00+4.50
Nick Littmoden3-1-1+10.00+5.50
Clive Cox3-1-2+0.75+0.96

Lincoln Trial Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the Lincoln Trial over the last 20 renewals, with David Probert, Luke Morris, and Jim Crowley having all won the race two times. David Probert's winners have been with Zwayyan (2019) and Notre Belle Bete (2022). Luke Morris winners have been with Big Country (2018) and Assimilation (2020). Jim Crowley winners have been with Whispering Warrior (2014) and Keystroke (2016). There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the Lincoln Trial; Joe Fanning has ridden 12 runners in the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Lincoln Trial 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
David Probert7-2-2+7.00+2.51
Luke Morris5-2-3+17.00+12.55
Jim Crowley2-2-2+9.50+5.94
Jamie Spencer6-1-2-2.75-2.40
Tony Hamilton4-1-2+0.00+0.58
Jason Watson2-1-2+6.00+4.82
Clifford Lee2-1-1+4.50+2.44
Daniel Muscutt2-1-1+4.00+2.13
Robert Tart2-1-1+3.00+1.50
Rossa Ryan2-1-2+1.75+1.96

Lincoln Trial Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +12.75, is when runners had 1 win in the past 90 days.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a biggest odds run of 66/1, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-35.

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

  • 2025: Winner in 10 (3,6) [12 Runners]
  • 2024: Winner in 8 (11,5) [11 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 4 (8,10) [13 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 11 (1,9) [12 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 10 (8,13) [13 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Lincoln Trial is Lingfield (AW); there have been a total of 9 winners of this race who ran at Lingfield (AW) last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 238 runners, while female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 5 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Lincoln Trial:

  • Cape Cross (2 Wins)
  • Pivotal (2 Wins)
  • Shamardal (2 Wins)

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

  • Dark Angel (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Medicean (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Danehill Dancer (0 Wins from 5 runners)
  • Exceed And Excel (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Nazreef in 2012, winning for Hughie Morrison at odds of 14/1 under the guidance of Robert Winston. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 5 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2026 Lincoln Trial, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page. If you are interested in other races at the Wolverhampton racecourse, then why not read our blog for the Lady Wulfruna Stakes?

Route to the Lincoln Trial

Many trainers target races as preparation for the Lincoln Trial. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2025 - Symbol Of Light
Southwell (AW) - 1st of 12 (6/1)
Win ÂŁ1M With BetMGMs Golden Goals Handicap
2024 - Kingdom Come
Lingfield (AW) - 3rd of 8 (5/2)
BetMGM AWC Mile Trial Handicap
2023 - Alrehb
Southwell (AW) - 1st of 11 (4/1)
Spreadex Sports Best Premier League Odds Handicap
2022 - Notre Belle Bete
Lingfield (AW) - 1st of 6 (1/10)
MansionBet Proud Partners Of The AWC Novice Stakes
2021 - Born To Be Alive
Kempton (AW) - 1st of 10 (18/1)
Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Handicap
2020 - Assimilation
Meydan - 8th of 12 (25/1)
Curlin Stakes Sponsored By Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City-District One
2019 - Zwayyan
Ascot - 16th of 20 (14/1)
Balmoral Handicap
2018 - Big Country
York - 5th of 12 (4/1)
Coral Handicap Stakes
2017 - Nimr
Wolverhampton (AW) - 1st of 9 (3/1)
Sun Bets On The App Store Handicap
2016 - Keystroke
Newmarket (Rowley) - 9th of 10 (2/1)
Son of Sid Fine Ale Furlong Handicap

Article Contributor Information

We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this Lincoln Trial Preview are Andy and James. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for Flat racing.

James Banting

James Banting

Expert Guide

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 Association provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

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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