Rarely you come across a race so even that you can make a strong case for every runner in the field.
But the Golden Gateway Pace Final at Stawell last Sunday was one of those races.
For the Trevor Patching-trained Abbie Lincoln, the feature was a grand final of sorts and she delivered in style.
“I don’t think I have ever worked so hard to win a race,” Trevor’s daughter and part-owner Kirsten Patching told Toby McKinnon on Trots Life earlier this week.
The Golden Gateway is a unique race series that allows horses five and older with low ratings to qualify for a $14,000 final. Sunday’s field was filled with horses who qualified in the heats run at Terang, Ararat, Hamilton and Horsham throughout November.
“She was just ticking off every condition for the race… it was like it was made for her,” Kirsten said.
“It’s just awesome and I really appreciate HRV putting a series on like this for horses that don’t win all the time.”
Abbie Lincoln finished third in her first heat at Ararat and runner-up in her second at Hamilton before running down Olly Odd Pots in the home straight at Stawell to win the final impressively for regular driver Jackie Barker.
The victory was the third of Abbie Lincoln’s career and broke a drought spanning back to February.
“She’s no superstar, but she is competitive and fun, and if you’re not going to have a superstar, it’s good to have a little horse like her,” she said.
Toby McKinnon calculated that Barker has driven 17708kms across 39 different occasions to drive Abbie Lincoln.
“We are so lucky… Jackie is so fantastic,” Kirsten said. “She will drive long distances to drive our horses and she does such a wonderful job with them.”