Singapore Weekend Reviews 26/10 [ War Affair just awesome in Raffles Cup win ] Star four-year-old War Affair Horseform lived up to all expectations in the Group 1 Raffles Cup, when he again proved a class above his rivals. A dominant victor of the Kranji Mile two back, the son of OReilly took the next step up on Sunday, when streaking his rivals by almost five lengths. The most dominant display ever witnessed in the Raffles Cup, War Affairs performance surpassed that of Better Than Ever Horseform, recording a Timeform rating of 123+. His performance was marked equal to that of Spalato, and sets up a very intriguing Singapore Gold Cup. Being a handicap, the Gold Cup will be War Affairs greatest test, as the anticipations builds to see what weight he receives. If successful War Affair will be the first horse ever to achieve the triple crown (Kranji Mile, Raffles Cup and Singapore Gold Cup) in a calendar year. In just his second attempt beyond a mile, War Affair was simply electric, reeling off a closing sectional close to 15 lengths inside standard. War Affair averaged 11.09 second 200m sections for his last 800m, 0.13 seconds quicker than what he produced in the Kranji Mile. More notably his last 1200m was marked just 0.20 seconds slower than Spalato, further emphasising the strength of his performance. War Affairs previous career peak (Singapore Guineas) was achieved fourth up last preparation — suggesting his best is still yet to come. Following a similar ratings profile, we can expect War Affair to improve again for the Singapore Gold Cup. In what will be just his third attempt beyond a mile, the step up to 2200m should pose no concerns and he sets a very lofty standard for his rivals. With two gallopers Timeform rated 123+, Singapore Racing has never been stronger and sets up an exciting few months.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 06:24:27 +0000