Debbie Lincoln ready to shine at Starlights

By Jordan Gerrans

With The Starlights fast approaching, Josh Davine believes recent Albion Park winner Debbie Lincoln can aim up to a few of the features on offer, just as she did during her New Zealand campaign earlier this year.

The 34-year-old Davine is well known in the harness game through his ownership interests, with his horses racing under the N40 branding.

While his numbers have fluctuated over the years, he has around 50 horses in his ownership stable across Australia and New Zealand.

He has turned his hand to training himself this year and has enjoyed quick success with Debbie Lincoln.

The four-year-old mare won at the highest level in NZ earlier this year and grabbed her first Albion Park triumph earlier this month.

The Starlights will feature six blockbuster nights at Redcliffe and Albion Park across November and December, with more than $2 million in prizemoney and bonuses on offer.

Fledgling conditioner Davine is hopeful that Debbie Lincoln can feature prominently in the carnival.

“Honestly, we've got her going so well, she's feeling well and looking spectacular,” Davine said.

“She just looks so great. With a lot of respect to the other horses around, she'll be very competitive in the summer.

“I think she really could stamp her authority in the summer and into next year.

“I think she'll run really well in those summer features, but to be honest, she'll keep adapting to the work here and she's so powerful and strong.

“We thought that she would run exceptionally well the other night. She's a high-quality horse. Her trackwork had been superb.

“And, to be honest, she probably just didn't settle in as well as we would have hoped.

“There was some American interest in her. We gave her a good spell and brought her back. We were super confident going in.

“But, with her gait speed, she's dynamic. She's got the ability to run some handy time.

“And, to be honest, she'll probably thrive off that run.”

After two runs for Davine’s mentor and close mate Michael Brennan, Debbie Lincoln was transferred into the rookie trainer’s name for her Albion Park effort on October 3.

She started as the well-backed favourite with premier reinsman Nathan Dawson in the bike and she saluted by two metres in a striking performance.

The voice of harness racing in Queensland, Chris Barsby, praised the performance.

“She goes all the way in personal best time,” Barsby said.

“She is a proven Group 1-winner in New Zealand.”

As Barsby noted, Debbie Lincoln scored at the highest level in her home country earlier this year when she took out the NZ Breeders Stakes.

Davine, in his first tilt at training, campaigned the mare in New Zealand for four starts in the early months of 2026, scoring on two occasions, including in the feature race at Addington for the ladies.

Debbie Lincoln was driven to success on that occasion by reinswoman Kimberly Butt.

Davine says the NZ campaign was an enlightening experience on a personal and professional level.

“I spotted her and just thought I might be able to take myself on a working holiday to New Zealand,” he recalled.

“Just work her around and see how it goes. She was a mid-grade level mare.

“Then she went on to win a few races, including the Group 1, so it gave me a bit of an itch.

“To win a Group 1 at your fourth start as a trainer is unbelievable. But, it probably just restored my faith in everyone.

“Everyone was so kind and willing to answer my questions.

“Honestly, things just weren't going right for me last year. I was sitting in Sydney not doing well and I obviously had a lot of horses.

“It was unbelievable. And, to be honest, it just did a lot for me mentally to have the support there.

“It allowed me to dream big and put her in that Group 1 and to win it was unbelievable.”

Previously Sydney-based, Davine has relocated to the Sunshine State to work alongside Brennan at their Biddaddaba property.

While he is preparing Debbie Lincoln himself, the remainder of the horses will stay in Brennan’s training stable, with Davine and his N40 group remaining in ownership of many of the pacers and trotters.

“The majority of horses stay with Mouse (Brennan) and I'll continue to buy horses to train with Mouse,” he said.

“I think he's an exceptional trainer. But, I'll continue to pick up the odd one here and there.

“It just gives me another way to train my brain to do something different and ask questions and just learn.

“I'm very spoiled to have such a good horse as my first horse. But, certainly I don't take anything away from Mouse's assistance.

“He's a legend. To be honest, my support of Mouse is far greater than the horses. He's a mentor to me a lot.

“I just think he's such an exceptional person that has a really good strike-rate. It's just good to see the good guys doing so well.”

Debbie Lincoln won in the Mares Open Pace at Albion Park earlier this month and is likely to back up in the same grade this week.

“To be honest, I've had a lot of guidance from Jack Harrington, who's here at the farm,” Davine said.

“So, I've been pretty fortunate. She went super first-up. But, really it's a lot of guys that I'm being looked after by.”