Lincoln Handicap Tips 2026: Billy Grimshaw’s verdict for Doncaster’s big race

The Lincoln is the first major cavalry charge of the Flat season, a straight-mile handicap at Doncaster that always looks simple from a distance and never is once you get into the weeds. This year’s renewal has depth, proper pace and more than one horse who could turn out to be better than a handicapper. With 22 runners declared, good to soft underfoot and a fresh suggestion that the low numbers may again be favoured, the 2026 running has all the ingredients for a proper spring puzzle rather than a procession for the favourite. Allow Billy Grimshaw to take you through the race and give his idea of the winner:

In the Lincoln you traditioanlly want a horse with enough class to cope with a searching gallop, enough tactical speed to hold a position when the race begins to split and enough upside left in the locker to make a mockery of a mark that looked fair in November. That is why the four-year-olds dominate the conversation year after year. They are still open to improvement and often arrive here with the strongest possibility of making a big leap from one season to the next. Recent history backs that up and last year’s winner Godwinson from the William Haggas yard carried 9st 4lb to victory as a four year old, which matters when you begin weighing up the credentials of this year’s market leaders. 

The draw adds another layer. Doncaster’s straight mile can magnify tiny differences in track position and the prevailing wisdom - although it can change like the wind - is those drawn low will be at an advantage. It is not the only thing that matters, but in a field this competitive and of this size you would rather be on the right side of a developing pattern than fighting against it. That makes the likes of Botanical, Shout and Anno Domini automatically more interesting before you even get to their form. Pace, too, will be crucial. Lincoln winners are often the ones who travel kindly, get the tow into the race, and are still moving smoothly while others are already being ridden. This does not look like a race short on speed, which should ensure it is run honestly and place the emphasis on balance, stamina at the trip and the ability to quicken off an end-to-end gallop. In that kind of setup, you want a horse who is not merely well handicapped on paper, but one who looks built for the day rather than simply gifted an appealing mark.

That is why the obvious names are obvious. La Botte has attracted support because he has already shown the sort of ability that makes you wonder whether handicaps are only a temporary stop on the road to better things. He was a neck second in the Britannia last summer, then returned in the Wolverhampton trial for this and shaped better than the bare result when fourth after a wide trip and a hold-up ride that asked plenty of him.

Harry Eustace has been bullish enough to suggest he could prove a Group horse in time, and there is no doubt he has the class for a race like this, but stall 13 is a small concern if the low-drawn runners end up favoured.. That is the one small inconvenience in his profile, because the rest of it is polished. The bigger issue is the one every Lincoln favourite has to answer when he creeps towards the top of the handicap: 9st 12lb off 104 is a serious burden in a race that tends to reward quality allied with a touch of leniency. He might simply be good enough to breeze the race with that weight, but he has less margin for error than the hype suggests.

If La Botte is the glamour angle, ETERNAL FORCE is the cleaner handicapping angle. He is also a four-year-old, but one coming here off a mark of 96 with 9st 4lb, a figure and a weight band that look much more like traditional Lincoln material. He ended last season with a hat-trick at Redcar, Newbury and Haydock, and this race has long been the target. William Haggas has said he is hoping for a big run, and it is difficult not to respect that given both the stable’s Lincoln record and the shape of the similarities to last season's aforementioned winner, Godwinson.

Then there are the horses who can make the race collapse around the principals if either of the front two underperforms. Shout is one of them. He is not quite as fashionable, but he was fourth in the Balmoral Handicap and has the look of a horse who belongs in strongly run mile handicaps. His draw is appealing if the low side is indeed the place to be, and there is a lot to like about a runner who arrives with solid big-field form rather than just the promise. Rogue Diplomat is another impossible to ignore. James Owen’s four-year-old ended 2025 on a four-race winning streak and is already a dual Doncaster winner, which gives him a natural course angle that many of his rivals lack. He may not quite be up to this level, but there's only one way to find out.

I also would not dismiss Anno Domini, who has a runstyle that could be tailormade for this contest as the race begins to unfold. Charlie Appleby trusts 7lbs claimer and son of Ryan Toby Moore and that is not an insignificant move in a handicap where the front of the market contains horses carrying lumps of weight. Be in no doubt, Toby is worth all seven of those pounds.