The Flat is Back: Best Bets for Lincoln Day at Doncaster

Whilst the 2025 Cheltenham Festival remains fresh in the memory and the Aintree Grand National is still to come, this weekend sees the focus switch to events of the level. The South Yorkshire track of Doncaster is the place to be for flat racing fans as the Town Moor venue stages the opening day of the 2025 flat season.

The historic Lincoln Handicap is the centrepiece of a cracking seven-race card, with five events making up part of the ITV Racing schedule. Here, using data presented by NewBettingSites.uk, we pick out our four best bets, including in the feature contest, as we bid to kick off the flat campaign with a profitable Lucky 15.

1:15 Doncaster – William Hill Top Price Guarantee EBF Brocklesby Stakes, 5f, Class 2

We kick things off in a race where all seventeen runners are making their racecourse debut. Richard Hannon claimed the 2022 edition of this with the extremely well-backed Persian Force, and the market suggests we could be in for something similar in 2025. Going in the same Amo Racing silks as Persian Force, the Hannon-trained Norman’s Cay has shot towards the head of the market. By Sioux Nation, he should inherit speed from his sire, but dam, Dear Miriam, posted her only win at 1m1f. The market signals may prove ominous, but at around 2/1, he’s too short for our liking.

Kamakameleon represents 2024's winning trainer Dylan Cunha and is also proving popular in the market. However, we prefer to take a chance on a runner at a bigger price in a race with so many imponderables, and our two for the shortlist are Sucking Diesel and Justice Twice. The latter represents the unheralded but bang-in-form Hilal Kobeissi operation, but we just prefer Sucking Diesel. Trainer Alice Haynes has hit the frame with 57% of her youngsters on turf over the past five seasons and had struck with two or her last four runners at the time of writing. By Aclaim and out of a mare who scored six times at this distance, Sucking Diesel appeals on paper and can continue the solid form of the Haynes operation.

• Recommended Bet - Sucking Diesel each way @ 10/1 with LiveScoreBet

1:50 Doncaster – William Hill Bet £10 Get £10 Spring Mile Handicap, 1m, Class 2

The Spring Mile Handicap is a consolation event for those runners who miss the Lincoln Handicap cut and looks just as competitive as the feature. Open to runners aged four and above, the youngsters have dominated of late, with a four-year-old claiming eight of the past ten editions.

Of the older runners, 2024 winner Look Back Smiling has dropped 1lb in the handicap and rates an obvious each-way option. Spirit Genie also makes our shortlist on his first start since wind surgery, having finished a solid sixth in the 2024 Lincoln. However, we return to the four-year-olds for our selection, and the one to get the vote is Naepoint.

This Ed Bethell runner won three of seven starts in 2024 to climb from an opening mark of 75 to his current rating of 88. Having recorded the first of those wins over course and distance, we know he handles the track, whilst the fact that he has won on good to firm and soft is encouraging, given the slightly unsettled forecast. This new career-high rating demands more, but a recent gelding op is one angle for improvement, as is the fact that he ought to be moving into his prime on his first start as a four-year-old.

• Recommended Bet - Naepoint each way @ 13/2 with LiveScoreBet

3:00 Doncaster – William Hill Doncaster Mile, 1m, Listed

Our second of three selections on the mile course comes in this Listed class affair landed by the excellent Charyn in 2024. Karl Burke’s course and distance winner Liberty Lane heads the betting in 2025 and should go well if in the form which saw him claim the Cambridgeshire in grand style last season. However, he performed well below expectations first time out in the Lincoln last term, which is enough to make us look elsewhere.

The one to be on is the George Boughey-trained Botanical. Going in the same Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum silks as Liberty Lane, this son of Lope De Vega boasts several solid pieces of form, including a six-length verdict over 2024 Lincoln winner Mr Professor and a smart handicap success at York. Successful first time out last season, he goes well fresh and may find improvement following a recent wind procedure.

• Recommended Bet - Botanical to win @ 7/2 with LiveScoreBet

3:35 Doncaster – William Hill Lincoln, 1m, Class 2

Last, but by no means least, the big betting heat of the day as 22 go to post in the historic Lincoln handicap. As ever, the 2025 edition presents punters with a choice between more established performers and those more likely to have something up their sleeve from the handicapper. Defending champ Mr Professor falls into the former category and may have his supporters off a 4lb higher mark, whilst Wathnan Racing duo Midnight Gun and Native Warrior fall into the lightly raced category and could go well.

However, the standout contender to our eyes is the Karl Burke-trained Thunder Run, who has yet to finish outside the first four in six career outings and makes only his fourth start in a handicap here. All three wins have come at around this trip, and he gets in off the same mark as when fourth on unsuitably soft ground in the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day. With Clifford Lee in the saddle, he looks to have plenty in his favour.

• Recommended Bet - Thunder Run @ 11/2 with LiveScoreBet

A 50p each way Lucky 15 at the recommended prices returns £2,164.90 with LiveScoreBet if all four horses win and £61.65 if all four finish only in the placed positions.

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