By MICHAEL GUERIN
After a three year journey Thunder N Lightning will finally be home tonight.
The 5-year-old will step onto Alexandra Park for the first time since New Year's Eve 1997.
That was the night be blew away the best early season juveniles of that season, winning the Cardigan Bay Stakes.
The pacing world was his to conquer. Instead he ended up fighting another battle.
Since that stunning start to his career Thunder N Lightning has spent most of the past three years fighting leg problems which have kept him from where he belongs - the racetrack.
First one leg than another kept him sidelined as he made his way through the Brian O'Meara and John Lischner stables before arriving under the care of Barry Purdon.
Purdon and his team have worked tirelessly to get Thunder N Lightning back to the track and after two recent workout wins they know he is ready for his return.
"He won his last workout at Pukekohe very easily and showed a touch of class," said Purdon's stable foreman Stephen Telfer.
Those workouts also showed why Thunder N Lightning's resumption tonight will be a return home. Because he was born to be a serious racehorse.
He was the yearling sales topper of his year, thanks to his dam, Rain Girl, having already left a host of stars, including Atitagain and Rain Again.
Right from his first workout he oozed class which had O'Meara rating him better than then stablemate Cigar, who has gone on to reach open class.
While the clouds of unsoundness still hang over Thunder N Lightning, Telfer expects him to have few problems making up for lost time.
"His legs have been good lately and he is going to be a horse worth following."
Even from barrier six in race three tonight Thunder N Lightning should be good enough to sit parked and still beat an average bunch, giving Purdon a very realistic shot at an early double, with Foxtrot Joe expected to win the second.
While Thunder N Lightning's return is the undoubted highlight of tonight's programme, the Manukau Cup will provide punters with their biggest challenge.
The capacity field plays into the hands of the front markers, particularly the in-form New York Times.
He ran on well for third behind Classic Turbo at Cambridge last week and should be even better for tonight's test under similar circumstances, in which Maurice McKendry will take over the reins from trainer Geoff Small.
His biggest threat could come from impressive recent workout winner Mandrake. The Jeff Crouth-trained gelding beat Classic Turbo in a fast time at the Pukekohe workouts 12 days ago and is from a stable that usually produces its representatives very forward.
Geoff Small will also have a strong hand in the 3-year-old feature with The Ice Man and Titanium Driver taking on the talented Mark Purdon pair of Young Rufus and Inner Success, in a lead-up to next week's first northern Sires' Stake heat at Cambridge.
Racing: Thunder forecast for Alex Park
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