Former top sprinter Rain Affair will kick off his spring campaign with Warrnambool trainer Daniel Bowman in the Group 1 $450,000 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley on October 2.
Rain Affair, who won 10 of his first 11 starts, has been in the care of Bowman for more than two months. He has had two serious gallops on the course proper at Warrnambool with talented jockey Damian Lane in the saddle.
Bowman is excited with the reports Lane’s given him on the formerly Joe Pride-trained galloper.
“Damien has been impressed with his work,” Bowman said. “He’s settled in really well to life in Warrnambool. He’s had a couple of niggling issues with wear and tear on his back and hamstrings but the beach and the dunes are really working for him.
“I’m aiming to give him a couple of trials before the Moir and then I’m looking at running him in the Manikato (October 23) if he runs well in the Moir.”
From his 35 starts Rain Affair has won 12 races and more than $1.5 million in stake money.
The quietly spoken Bowman, previously Darren Weir’s Warrnambool foreman, decided to train in his own right from August 1. He has 10 horses in work and a few pre-trainers but is hoping to increase those numbers when ex-South African jockey Gavin Coetzee arrives in Warrnambool in late September.
“I was looking for a trackwork rider and after discussions with a few people I got in contact with Gavin. He’s 25 years old and has ridden winners in South Africa and New Zealand,” Bowman said.
“It’s been great to get him on board.”
Bowman is training from the late Mark Primmer’s stables at Wangoom.
Rupert next for Star
Classy galloper Stratum Star will have his next start in the $400,000 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on September 26 following his third placing in last Saturday’s Memsie Stakes.
Stratum Star finished a short head and a nose behind Boban and Entirely Platinium in Saturday’s Group 1 race over 1400 metres.
The four-year-old, who is trained at leading Victorian trainer Darren Weir’s Warrnambool satellite stable, has pulled up well following the run according to foreman Jarrod McLean.
“We were very happy with the run,” McLean said. “He hit the line hard and he was beaten by two very good horses.
“We’ll freshen him up now and go to the Rupert Clarke.
“We’ve done a lot of work down at the beach and in the dunes with Stratum Star. He’ll derive plenty of benefit out of the run.”
McLean, who took over as Weir’s Warrnambool foreman on August 1 said he was also pleased with the first-up runs of May’s Dream and Dandino on Saturday. May’s Dream ran fourth in a Group 3 heat of the William Hill Sprint Series while Dandino ran last in the Memsie.
“I thought May’s Dream went super. She made up a lot of ground at the end. The 1200 metres never suited her but we had to kick off her campaign somewhere,” he said.
“We’ve got the Group 2 Stocks Stakes (October 2) as one of the main goals for May’s Dream in the spring. We’ll find another race for her in a few weeks.”
Dandino finished less than six lengths behind Boban in the Memsie and McLean believes there’s lot of improvement in the nine-year-old stallion.
“Dandino’s run was a lot better than it looked. He was running over an unsuitable distance in a weight-for-age race,” he said. “Dandino is still learning to adapt to our training techniques. His next run is in the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday week. I’m expecting he’ll run a lot better in that.”
As well as being Weir’s Warrnambool foreman at Wangoom, McLean has 12 horses in work at his own stables.
Reel quick
Lightly raced Warrnambool galloper Big Reel will be set for the Essendon Mazda 55 Second Challenge at Moonee Valley over the summer months following his win in a benchmark 64 race at Geelong last Friday.
Big Reel took his record to two wins from six starts when he defeated Roycey and Miltary in the $23,000 event.
Popular trainer Merv McKenzie said after the win that Big Reel had failed to handle a heavy track at the Warrnambool May carnival, which is why he was spelled for the winter.
“Big Reel’s a very speedy horse — I reckon he’ll be suited to the 955-metre races around the Valley. His half-brother King Cotton won a few of them and I think Big Reel will be up to the challenge.”
Big Reel has won more than $35,000 in stakemoney from his six starts.