Joe Pride is a man on a mission.
That mission is to prove the naysayers wrong by winning a Group One race with Rain Affair this autumn.
The free-wheeling frontrunner, twice a runner-up at the top level, underwent a knee operation after two uncharacteristic performances in the spring.
He has just stepped up to fast work ahead of his scheduled resumption next month and Pride is adamant Rain Affair will be one of the autumn’s big players – on wet tracks or dry.
With 11 wins from 17 starts Rain Affair has built an imposing record.
But eight of those victories have been on rain-affected tracks and as a result Pride says “he got a few baggers there”.
“I don’t think people take him seriously enough sometimes,” Pride said.
“I know he’s more than capable of winning a Group One on the dry. He’s already run second in two Group Ones on the dry.
“He deserves a Group One and he’ll get it. I’m so confident of that.”
The gelding might get the chance to prove Pride right sooner than expected.
The trainer is seriously considering a first-up tilt at the Canterbury Stakes at Rosehill on March 23, a race which has been upgraded to Group One status this season.
The Group Two Challenge Stakes at Warwick Farm a week earlier, which Rain Affair won last year, is also an option.
But with the Challenge slated for the return of stablemate Tiger Tees, Pride is warming to the Canterbury feature for Rain Affair.
“I really would like to avoid running him and Tiger Tees together at the start of the preparation and Tiger Tees is going to run in the Challenge,” Pride said.
“It’s (Canterbury Stakes) been upgraded to a Group One, it’s a 1300 metre race and that might seem a bit ambitious but for this horse, if I’ve got him fit enough, 1300 first-up will be more suitable than 1100 because he won’t get attacked.”
The two Group One races he finished second in last year – the TJ Smith Stakes and All Aged Stakes – are the five-year-old’s main goals.
A Brisbane winter campaign is also on the table given he will have just three autumn runs in Sydney.