The early scratching of Rainer has left fourteen three year olds to line up in the Group 1 $2m Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Autumn Sun, above, is the favourite for the 2018 Caulfield Guineas at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.
Trainer James Cummings withdraw Rainer shortly after the final field was released after the Lonhro colt drew the outside gate in the original fifteen horse field.
Rainer was rated a $16 chance with Ladbrokes.com.au at the time of his withdrawal which didn’t affected the betting for the Caulfield Guineas to any major degree.
Rainer was narrowly beaten as the favourite at Flemington last Saturday after jockey Hugh Bowman had trouble securing a clear passage in the straight before going down by a head when second to Wild Planet in the Listed Antler Luggage Stakes (1400m) for the three year olds.
The Chris Waller trained The Autumn Sun is the dominant $1.85 favourite ahead of the Darren Weir trained pair of Native Soldier ($6.50) and Leonardo Da Hinchi ($8).
Waller took The Autumn Sun (James McDonald, barrier 5) to have a look at the Caulfield track this morning and with McDonald in the saddle seemed to handle the tricky track with ease.
“He was very balanced around the bend, which is pretty important,” McDonald told racing.com.
“I know galloping trackwork is different to race pressure but I was pretty happy with the way he got around the bend. His leads were really good and he finished off his work really nice. I couldn’t be more pleased really.
“He’s got the form on the board. He’s beaten the best in Sydney. He was there to be beaten too. He overcame obstacles.
“He won really well that day when he came from an impossible position and still rallied.
“I thought Zousain was home that day and I couldn’t believe he still picked him up. He’s definitely got a lot of class.”
The lightly raced The Autumn Sun is already a two times Group 1 winner and Waller has already rated the Redoute’s Choice colt up with the best horses he has trained.
“He’s very good and how far we go, I don’t know in terms of his rating, but he’s right up there with the best horses I’ve had,” Waller said on Tuesday morning.
“At this early stage, at what I would call an immature three-year-old, I think he’s still got a lot more to offer. It’s very exciting.”
Cummings’ option for Rainer are the Listed $120,000 Polytrack Gothic Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on October 20 as well as the Group 3 $200,000 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on November 3.
