War Affair gives warning to rivals with trial win

Boonk Lim, Singapore Turf Club

07/04/2015

War Affair swept the competition aside in a show of raw power on Tuesday morning at the barrier trials, crossing the winning post a good 2 ½ lengths in front of the chasing pack.

Coming out of the gates, the O’Reilly four-year-old kept pace with early leaders Smart People (Leong Yoon Fei) and Catch Me Great (Michael Rodd) to straighten up in third place. With 400m left to run, his new partner Alan Munro started to give more reins to the Alwin Tan-trained galloper, who immediately surged forward to the lead within a couple of strides and from then on, never looked back as he cruised home unopposed.

The ease in which he flicked his switch so readily augurs well for War Affair and speaks volumes of his race readiness. So is he all set to compete again?

War Affair came out for another impressive barrier trial on Tuesday.

While Tan understands everyone is looking forward to seeing the reigning Singapore Horse of the Year back racing sooner rather than later, he is erring on the side of caution.

“He had a good run this morning but he still needs to work out a little more before he is ready,” said Tan.

“Next week he will be running in another trial just to make sure his stamina is okay.”

When pressed on when War Affair’s comeback race will be, Tan just shook his head and laughed.

“A lot of people have been asking me when he will return. We are still looking for the right race,” he said.

“It will be a 1200m or a 1400m for a start, but we do not have a fixed timeframe for him just yet.”

Meanwhile, Tan mentioned that War Affair’s stablemate El Padrino, who just returned from Dubai where he ran a creditable fourth in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m), has come back in good order and was now resting at the quarantine stables.

“I was happy with his run. He did not quite like the kickback from the dirt but in the home straight, he finally got going to run a nice fourth,” said the Singaporean trainer who was at his first Dubai raid.

“I will give him another week’s rest to recuperate and then I’ll bring him back to work here.”