Ahead of the flat season curtain raiser race, Andy Newton gives you all the key Lincoln Handicap trends and stats for the big Doncaster race.
You can use these stats to help find the best profiles based on past winners of the race – including key age, weight and trainer trends that have been a superb way of finding the Lincoln Handicap winner in recent years.
Catch the race on the ITV Racing schedule on Saturday 28th March.
Lincoln Handicap Betting Trends: Key Stats To Find The Doncaster Winner 📈
- 21/22 – Aged 6 or younger
- 20/22 – Carried 9-4 or less
- 19/22 – Won over at least 1m
- 18/22 – Won between 2-4 times
- 17/22 – First run of the flat season
- 15/22 – Drawn in stall 9 or higher
- 15/22 – Favourites unplaced
- 13/22 – Returned a double figure price in the betting
- 11/22 – Aged 4 years-old
- 10/22 – Officially rated between 95-100
- 10/22 – Finished first or second in last race
- 9/22 – Raced at Doncaster before
- 8/22 – From the top 3 in the betting
- 8/22 – Won their last race
- 8/22 – Ran at Newmarket or Lingfield last time out
- 6/22 – Placed horses from stall 12 (2 winners)
- 6/22 – Placed horses from stall 16 (1 winner)
- 4/22 – Favourites (1 in the last 11 runnings)
- 4/22 – William Haggas (5 in total) trained
- 2/22 – Charlie Appleby trained
- 2/22 – John Quinn trained
- 2/22 – John Gosden trained
- 2/22 – Richard Fahey trained
- 2/22 – James Doyle (2 of last 5) ridden
- 2/22 – Benoit De La Sayette (2 of last 4) ridden
- 1/22 – Irish-trained winners
- 11 of the last 15 winners carried between 9-0 & 9-4 in weight
- Only 1 winner has carried 9-10 in the last 39 runnings
- 9 of the last 11 winners aged 4 or 5
- Average winning SP in the last 22 runnings is 14/1
- Only two ‘back-to-back’ winners in the past (Ob, 1906/07 & Babur 1957/58)
Lincoln Handicap Trends Tell Us To Ignore Horses Aged 7+
With a massive 9 of the last 11 (82%) Lincoln Handicap winners aged 4 or 5, then these two ages are certainly worth having on side.
Migration won aged 7 in 2023, but before that the only winner aged 6+ was Hunters Of Brora (8) in 1998.
Meaning 21 of the last 22 winners were aged 4, 5 or 6 – which is a huge 95% return.
Okay, most of the 2026 Lincoln Handicap runners will tick this age trend, but it should still help knock out some.
Godwinson Looking To Become Only Third ‘Back-to-Back’ Lincoln Winner
The 2025 Lincoln winner was trained by William Haggas last season but has since been switched to the Jack Channon yard over the winter.
Jack’s dad, Mick Channon won the Lincoln in 2022 with the Silvestre de Sousa-ridden Johan.
Godwinson is expected to be back to defend his Donny title, but will returned rated 8lbs higher.
We’ve also only ever seen TWO ‘back-to-back’ Lincoln Handicap winners since 1906.
Meaning, despite being the current champ, this 6yold does have a bit more to find this year.
WATCH: Godwinson Winning The 2025 Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster
91% Of The Last 22 Winners Carried 9st 4lbs or LESS
Being a handicap, then weight carried is the next Lincoln Handicap trend to look for.
Over the last 39 runnings, there’s only been ONE winner that carried 9st 10lbs – which was Babodana in 2004.
Meaning, if running, Bolster with 9-12 would have this stat to overcome.
We can whittle down the weight stats further too – with 20 of the last 22 winners carrying 9st 4lbs or less.
While 11 of the last 15 had between 9st and 9st 4lbs on their backs.
With this small window between
Last year’s winner Godwinson shouldered 9st 4lbs, as did the 2022 winner Johan.
Horses Drawn 9+ Have The Best Record From The Last 22 Runnings
Next up is the Lincoln draw, as with a maximum of 22 runners, then getting a good early position can be vital – even over this straight course.
The last 22 runnings tell is that horses from stalls 9+ have the better overall record, with 15 wins.
But a small word of caution as three of the last four winners were drawn low – between 2-4, with last year’s winner coming from gate 3.
The final stats around the draw, tell is horses from gates 12 and 16 have done well in placing.
12 of the last 22 runnings have seen either a horse from 12 (6) or 16 (6) hit the frame (top 4).
The Lincoln draw will be announced on Thursday 26th March.
Just One Winning Lincoln Handicap Favourite In The Last 11 Renewals
Over the last 22 runnings of the Lincoln the race has seen FOUR winning favourites.
However, we’ve also only had ONE in the last 11 renewals.
This came in 2019 when the 5/2 jolly Auxerre won for trainer Charlie Appleby.
In the last 22 runnings, the average winning SP has been 14/1.
Respect Anything Trainer William Haggas Runs
There have been many yards that have won the Lincoln more than once in recent times – John Gosden, John Quinn, Richard Fahey and Charlie Appleby.
However, the one handler in the modern era that has by-far the best record in the race is WILLIAM HAGGAS.
The Newmarket-based yard have won four of the last 22 (5 in total) and took the spoils last season with Godwinson.
Haggas first trained the winner of the Lincoln in 1992 (High Low), with all his successes in the race here.
And he’s now the winning-most trainer in the history of the race (5 wins).
- High Low (1992)
- Very Wise (2007)
- Penitent (2010)
- Addeybb (2018)
- Godwinson (2025)
At this stage the William Haggas Lincoln runners are – First Principle, Sea Force and Eternal Force.
With the last-named one of the current 2026 Lincoln Handicap favourites.
2026 Lincoln Handicap Date🗓️
📅Date: Saturday 28th March 2026
⌚Time: 3:35pm
🏇Racecourse: Doncaster
🔄Trip: 1m
💷Winning Purse: £77,310
📺 TV: ITV Racing / Sky Sports Racing
Lincoln Handicap Winners (Last 10 Runnings) 🏆
- 2025 – GODWINSON (15/2)
- 2024 – MR PROFESSOR (33/1)
- 2023 – MIGRATION (18/1)
- 2022 – JOHAN (28/1)
- 2021 – HAQEEQY (9/2)
- 2020 – No Race (Covid)
- 2019 – AUXERRE (5/2 fav)
- 2018 – ADDEYBB (5/1)
- 2017 – BRAVERY (20/1)
- 2016 – SECRET BRIEF (12/1)
- 2015 – GABRIAL (12/1)
