Affluence Of Rain looks set to turn his form around

Affluence Of Rain sparkled in his Sha Tin barrier trial yesterday morning and it won't be long before the David Ferraris-trained Lonhro gelding improves on his modest 69 rating, judging by the way he strode to the line.

Affluence Of Rain stalked the early pace, set by the 93-rated Holey Dollar, before cruising past him under a good hold from Brett Doyle. There is plenty of his father's genes showing in his dark brown coat but, going on the gallop, Lonhro has also passed on plenty of natural talent to his son - he won the 1,050m heat on the all-weather track in 61.35 seconds.

Third placegetter Euro Power, who now races off a mark of 65 after his last-start win on the turf, also caught the eye striding to the line and trainer Manfred Man Ka-leung will be pleased to see his three-year-old in such great form early in his career.

In the second heat, My Glory led from the start to win in the slightly quicker time of 60.99 seconds, and has seemingly taken no harm from his gut-busting effort last start as favourite, when he refused to settle under Howard Cheng Yue-tin after vying for the lead from gate 10.

The Elusive City speedster travelled comfortably and was able to cruise to the line under his own steam. He is undoubtedly better than his 62 rating suggests, but how he learns to handle race-day pressure will be the ultimate factor that determines how high he climbs up the class ladder.

The third trial was won by Infallible Choice in 62.68 seconds for the lower-rated horses, but it was Danesouth who looked the pick of the bunch although finishing sixth of seven.

Danesouth improved to finish third last start behind Lions' Fortune over 1,400m on the turf and Andy Leung Ting-wah's Danroad gelding looks to be rounding into form nicely.

Off his mark of 34, it won't be long before he finds a winnable race over the mile, although the way he breezed over the artificial surface, don't rule out a dirt-track plunge from the stable.