Friday's Group 1 Singapore Guineas appears almost a foregone conclusion with star galloper War Affair expected to continue his dominance in the final leg of the Three-Year-old Challenge.
Having put the writing on the wall in the first leg of the Three-Year-Old Challenge when toying with his rivals over 1200m, the son of O'Reilly proceeded to take the next step when relishing the step up to 1400m last start.
In what proved his eighth win from 11 career starts the New Zealand bred galloper has quickly reaffirmed the claim he could be the best in Singapore with his latest display notching up a new career peak.
Going on to improve eight pounds from his second up victory, War Affair was rated the second highest victor of this event since Better Than Ever in 2010.
More notably his victory saw him rated higher than both Stepitup ('13) and Super Easy ('12) and given he is expected to improve further up to a mile, he is in line to be one of the highest rated Guineas victors in recent years.
Jumping away well from the outside stall, War Affair showed good early speed to settle down fifth on the outside of the Laurie Laxon trained Goodman.
Settling beautifully in-running for Danny Beasley, War Affair always appeared to travel well and upon straightening he quickly pulled himself up to the lead passing the 400m.
Given full bore inside the 300m, the talented three-year-old showed a dazzling turn of foot to leave his rivals standing still and kick between two-three lengths clear inside the 200m.
While Goodman showed a good return to form stepping up in trip, he was clearly no match for War Affair and battled on well to finish second two lengths away.
With a further three lengths back to third, it was a more than dominant display and the clock further pushed the strength of his performance.
Recorded to be just outside standard, War Affair's effort was comparatively between two and three lengths quicker than anything else on the night.
Given his profile, on predictive ratings he is expected to improve a further four and six pounds stepping up to the mile on Friday and if successful in achieving this feat he does appear out of his rivals reach.
From the gun draw expect Beasley to adopt similar tactics to that of his recent victories and simply park the son of O'Reilly just off the speed before producing him in the straight.
His closing sectionals are simply electric and with clear running it seems very unlikely that his rivals will be able to hold him out on the weekend.
Under the set weights conditions of the race, he rates well clear on Timeform ratings and appears poised to join the likes of Better Than Ever (2010), Gingerbread Man (2011), Super Easy (2012) and Stepitup (2013) and complete the clean sweep of the series.
The Laurie Laxon trained Goodman appears the only real danger to War Affair on Friday night following a sharp return to form last start.
While unable to really challenge War Affair he still recorded a new career peak when improving five pounds on his previous best.
More notably Goodman's effort would have seen him only narrowly beaten by Stepitup and Super Ninetyseven in previous renewals, further emphasising his ability.
Drawn just outside War Affair, Corey Brown is expected to roll forward and attempt to settle closer to the speed than as Brown is well aware he won't want to be giving War Affair a start at the top of the straight.
The biggest factor in Goodman's favour on Friday night is the fact he is untapped beyond 1400m and given the strength of his form over seven furlongs, the step up to the mile should no doubt suit the son of Alamosa.
While whether Goodman can pose a threat to War Affair remains to be seen, he is expected to be very hard to beat into second place.
The Mark Walker trained Rise 'N' Shine appears the next best following another impressive performance when saluting last time out.
In what proved his third victory from four career starts, he was not overly suited by the slow tempo set out in front although Manoel Nunes never appeared to panic and when asked for his full effort in the straight he let down powerfully to burst between runners and draw away for a dominant victory.
Being by Zabeel he is expected to improve further stepping up to the mile and beyond and given his current ratings profile he looks to have fairs claims.
Of the rest the Hideyuki Takaoka trained Room For Excuse cannot be entirely dismissed as his recent run of form has been right around the mark of late.
Although he is required to show sharp improvement if he is to challenge the top couple he does give the impression that the step up to a mile will definitely suit and he is expected to be charging home late.
Good luck and happy punting.
