Rosehill trainer Matt Dunn believes Rainbow Connection is getting back to the form that brought million-dollar offers from Hong Kong last year before a tendon injury led to 12 months on the sidelines.
Rainbow Connection is related to Hong Kong royalty, being a half-brother to superstar Golden Sixty, which is the favourite for next week’s Hong Kong International Mile, and carries form references to match his pedigree from the autumn of 2021.
Rainbow Connection (rails) runs second to Exoboom in the Hawkesbury Guineas.Credit:Getty
“We turned down big offers from over there because the owners wanted to race him, and then he did a tendon [after being runner-up in last year’s Hawkesbury Guineas],” Dunn said.
“He is just starting to get back to that horse again this preparation. It has taken a while, and we still haven’t seen the best of him yet.
“He’s run into some good horses coming through as a three-year-old, and he has just taken time to get over the tendon but is getting stronger all the time.
“He is such a big horse that he takes a long time to get race-fit, and, being a Magic Millions horse, we are looking to aim him to the Gold Coast in January.
“He probably needs to win another race to make sure he gets into those Magic Million races, so Saturday and his next run will be important.”
Rainbow Connection might still race in benchmark company, but few horses heading to Rosehill on Saturday could boast the form references he had as a three-year-old.
He chased home Ellsberg and Private Eye in the South Pacific Classic during The Championships last year before Exoboom got the better of him in a photo finish in the Hawkesbury Guineas.
“That was before they were Ellsberg and Private Eye,” Dunn said. “They were just coming through the grades like he was at the time, but it gives you an idea what sort of talent he has.
“The tendon set us back, and they have gone on to be two of the horses of the spring.
“I think he is slowly getting back to the form he was in as a three-year-old, and I still think his best is yet to come.”
Rainbow Connection will be asked to carry topweight of 60.5 kilos in the benchmark 78 at Rosehill on Saturday, and Dunn is confident he can continue a good campaign that started with an impressive Brisbane win before running third in a blanket finish behind Cuban Royale and Broken Arrows at Kembla.
“He was good fresh and, with a little more patience at Kembla, I think he could have won,” Dunn said. “The weight isn’t a worry for him and he is getting better and more confident with every run.”
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