RAINER

WISDOM

Maria Rilke once said: “Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.”

My eight-year-old son informed me yesterday that people start using their trampolines at this time of the year – spring time.

Any gambler worth his salt knows that spring officially starts when the Lincoln is run.

Autumn comes some time later, when I back my first winner of the Flat season.

The Lincoln is always a hugely competitive big-field affair and accordingly I’m not keen on Michael Bell’s horse Fire Brigade, who has been backed in from 10s to 6-1 favouritism this week.

God knows what he did last week to warrant such enthusiasm. Win a race at Cheltenham?

Four wins last season, two on soft ground, suggest that he’s going to be the one to beat here, particularly as Ryan Moore has been booked to ride.

But the value has disappeared — especially when you consider 10 of the last 15 favourites have gone unplaced.