26th March 2026 – Long time ante-post favourite La Botte was declared on Thursday morning for the £150,000 William Hill Lincoln by trainer Harry Eustace.
Harry Eustace’s lightly raced 4-year-old produced an eye-catching effort when running on in the Lincoln Trial at Wolverhampton recently. That was his first start since finishing a neck second in the Brittania Stakes at Royal Ascot and he has been the subject of consistent support in the market for this race in recent weeks.
Eustace said: “He seems to have come out of it very well. We’re obviously delighted with how he ran and to be honest the race did the last of the heavy lifting work wise for him, we’ve just been ticking him over into Saturday.”
No trainer has won more renewals of the William Hill Lincoln than William Haggas who has five victories in this race to his name. He could become the first trainer since Paul Cole in 2001 to land back-to-back renewals of the Lincoln with Eternal Force who is attempting to pull off a four-timer.
Dual course winner Rogue Diplomat is another horse who signed off his campaign last year in a rich vein of form. He is looking for a fifth consecutive career win, but this is only his second start over 1m having raced exclusively over 7f for most of his career.
His trainer James Owen said: “It’s great for Rogues Gallery to have a runner in the Lincoln. We dreamt all winter about it, from his last two runs at Doncaster. He’s a strong traveller, he was very weak as a two year old, he developed physically the whole way through his three-year-old career and I think that’s why he came alive at the end of it and won those last three races.”
The Simon & Ed Crisford-trained Shout is also a course winner. He produced a career-best to win at Ascot on his penultimate start and was then fourth in the Balmoral Handicap on his final start of the year. Both of Galeron’s best efforts in 2025 came on Town Moor, and connections of the 6-year-old will be hoping that theme continues after he was a close-up fifth in last year’s renewal of the Lincoln.
Botanical will drop down to 1m on his stable debut for Karl Burke after being moved from the George Boughey yard. The 6-year-old was placed in the Doncaster Mile Stakes (Listed) on this card last year. Toby Moore, son of Ryan Moore, will have his first Lincoln ride aboard the Charlie Appleby-trained Anno Domini. Appleby won this in 2019 with Auxerre.
Just five will go to post in the William Hill Doncaster Mile Stakes (Listed) with Group 1 winners Docklands and Qirat set to take each other on. Jamie Spencer will ride the former for the first time, while Colin Keane will regain the ride aboard the latter. The 108-rated pair Volterra and Excellent Believe are joined by last year’s course-and-distance winner Treble Tee to complete the lineup.
The William Hill Cammidge Trophy Stakes (Listed) will see a field of 14 head to post for this 6-furlong contest. Montassib is looking to become the first ever horse to regain their crown in this race after he won it in 2024. He is joined by last year’s winner Spycatcher who began and then signed off his 2025 campaign with wins over this course-and-distance.
This year's Brocklesby Stakes is renamed the William Hill Bill Turner Memorial EBF Brocklesby Stakes in honour of Bill Turner, who died in 2025 aged 78. A leading trainer of precocious two-year-olds, Turner remains the race’s most successful trainer with six wins between 1996 and 2013 and enjoyed a long and distinguished career spanning over 45 years.
This year’s renewal has attracted 15 runners with top trainers including Richard Hannon and Ralph Beckett both represented. AMO Racing and their retained trainer Robson De Aguiar are doubly represented with both the current market leader Blixen Force and Ocean Club.
The Brocklesby has produced smart juveniles including Persian Force, The Last Lion and Chipotle. Run over 5-furlongs, this £40,000 contest opens Doncaster’s Lincoln Day card and is the first 2-year-old race of the UK turf flat season.
This Saturday will see the launch of the PJA’s Ride of The Year initiative at Doncaster Racecourse where a £1,000 cash prize will be on offer to the winning jockey.
Dale Gibson, Racing Director of the Professional Jockeys Association, said: “We're delighted to be joining with Doncaster Racecourse to launch the Flat 'Ride of the Year' to coincide with the start of their turf season. This initiative is particularly appropriate during Doncaster's 250th anniversary celebrations for the Betfred St Leger and will give their annual members the chance to choose the best jockey performance on Town Moor in 2026.
We hope the competition will create considerable interest while providing the winning jockey with a cash prize and additional benefits when the season draws to a close in November.''
The first race is due to take place at 1:20pm, while the eight-race card will draw to a close at 5:15pm. The ground is currently described as Good To Soft, Soft in Places.
