Warwick Farm trainer Joe Pride has every confidence that his stable star Rain Affair will be back in the headlines when he contests the Group 2 $200,000 Theo Marks Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
Rain Affair blew away his rivals in the G3 Missile Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Speed machine Rain Affair has proven in the past he can recapture his winning form and Pride is hoping he has recovered from his hard run when he set the pace as usual in the Group 2 $175,000 Pro-Ride Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Warwick Farm on August 24.
Rain Affair set a sizzling pace and was attacked on the corner when Streama moved up and put the pressure on and then faded over the concluding stages to finish one and a half lengths third after the New Zealander Veyron finished over the top of both of them.
Pride has looked at RainAffair’s history and noted that he has bounced back in the past to run some mighty races after some really tough runs.
“He went ridiculously fast in the TJ Smith and came out his next start to run second to All Too Hard in the All Aged in the autumn,” Pride told The Daily Telegraph.
“And he had a tough run in the Newmarket and came back to win the Challenge Stakes.
“It’s hard to tell how he’ll bounce back after the other day. Unfortunately it’s one of those things where you need to take them to the races to find out. But historically, he has been able to bounce back.”
Rain Affair looked like he was in for a tremendous Spring Carnival when he blew away his opposition first up in the Group 3 $125,000 McGrath Real Estate Agents Missile Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on August 10.
If Rain Affair is back to his best on Saturday, Pride will head towards the Group 2 $200,000 Premiere Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on October 5 and then give the six year old another chance at a Group 1 win in the $1m Sportingbet Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate eve.
Rain Affair has been runner up on four occasions at Group 1 level from eight attempts, his latest during the Brisbane Winter Carnival when second to Your Song in the $400,000 Bundaberg Distilling Co. BTC Cup (1200m) at Eagle Farm on May 11.
The Commands gelding has run into some top line Group 1 performers along the way and was runner-up to Mark Kavanagh’s super star Atlantic Jewel and glamour colt All Too Hard in successive Group 1 $400,000 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick and was beaten a head by Master Of Design in the 2012 Group 1 $1m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick.
