By MIKE DILLON
The Swenys don't make plans for Adonis, which is why they can't declare where the underrated winter sprinter will go after his first-up effort in tomorrow's $12,000 Danske Mobler Waikato 1200 at Te Rapa.
Not many horses get to open company in 10 starts.
The fact Adonis managed only the 10 races before his current age of rising six years old is not entirely because his connections have given him time to develop.
"Every time we've got him right something has gone wrong," said co-trainer Dorothy Swney yesterday.
"If it hasn't been a virus it's been something else."
The only thing the Swneys have not been able to do is race Adonis on firm tracks, which is why they have had to wait until it rained after Adonis won a trial at Ellerslie on March 26.
Adonis bolted in on that occasion and according to Dorothy Swney has trained on very well.
"We expect him to race well and the rain this week will certainly help," said Swney.
"Every rider who has been on his back this preparation say he's a lot stronger horse than previously."
Worth noting is Adonis has won three of his four fresh-up races.
This is a smart field for what is essentially a winter sprint.
Call Me Zeus, Jaiapeno, Life Of Riley and Ma Danseuse are class performers.
Call Me Zeus is also making a fresh start and will start for the first time from John Wheeler's stable.
He looks well placed on the 62kg minimum and has not missed running a place in his three first-up performances.
A 4.5kg apprentice allowance presents a winning opportunity for Jaiapeno, whose ability is much better than his 00545 formline suggests.
The allowance takes Jaiapeno down to 49kg, 3kg less than the minimum weight. While versatile, Jaiapeno has run some of his best races on rain-affected tracks.
Ma Danseuse has not raced since January 1, but showed she was not far from being race ready when she scored an easy trials win at Paeroa recently.
The midweek rain was great news for Takanini-trained Creme De Honor in the first leg of the TAB double, the $15,000 Prime Television 1600.
Creme De Honor has won five of his nine New Zealand starts on rain-affected tracks. He found the firm conditions right against him when he resumed from a summer spell at Avondale on April 7, but this looks much more his type of race.
Mr Emperor makes it tough for himself by getting well off the speed early in his races, but he has a prolonged, determined finish and is another who will be suited by the conditions.
Volkaire, disappointing last week, might be assisted by the step up to 1600m and Ruakiwi Lad is a value chance.
Racing: Rain gets Adonis out on track
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