Rainbow Bridge is going to have to find an extra two lengths if he is to justify his position at the head of the market on Saturday. The other three Green Point principals shouldered a 2kg Grade 1 penalty last time and there is no such concession in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.

However it’s easy to see where Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount could get it from because he burned up valuable energy fighting for his head four weeks ago and the pace seems sure to be a lot stronger this time.

“I fully expected him to be right there in the Green Point -there was never any doubt in my mind that his 110 rating was false,” recalls Eric Sands. “But the race didn’t go according to plan. It was a small field and we never got the cover we were hoping for. He is not a puller normally. If we are working him at home, or bringing him to gallops, we put him in behind another horse and he drops the bit.

“It is only in races when he doesn’t get cover that he pulls. Two of his races have been like that – the Winter Classic and the Green Point, and in the latter we finished with Grade 1 winners all around us. He is no tearaway, just a very competitive horse. He would certainly be better off with a fast pace. He wouldn’t tug so much and it would give him a bit more time to get a breather.”

The fast pace is widely expected to come from stable companion Amazing Strike, and at the owner’s request rather than the trainer’s.“This is his last race and Jessica Slack said: ‘Let’s have a bit of fun and put him in the Queen’s Plate.’”

Nothing said about making the running, not so far anyway, but the owner stands Ideal World (sire of Amazing Strike as well as Rainbow Bridge) and victory for either would be a major boost for the stallion. You can get 80-1 about Amazing Strike pulling it off so his role is pretty obvious. He is basically a 1200-1400m horse but his new trainer has few doubts about him lasting the mile – “He won his 1400s going away, he is a seven-year-old and there is his sire.” Ideal World won over 2500m and he is the sire of Met winner Smart Call.

Sands, now 62, has been training for over 35 years. He has a string of Grade 1 winners to show for it including two Cape Flying Championships and three Mercury Sprints with Flobayou, the Champion Stakes and the Paddock Stakes – but not many of his horses got as worked up before their races as Rainbow Bridge does.

How is he going to be on Saturday when he sees a crowd far bigger than he has ever come across before? “I am not going to tell him how many people will be there.” Sands’ one-liners are delivered with such a straight face that it takes a second or two before you realise he is joking.

But will he take a leaf out of Sean Tarry’s Legal Eagle book and put a jockey up in the parade ring to keep the horse calm? Sands considers the question carefully before answering. “I don’t really know but last time he settled down in the parade ring. He was more on his toes when arrived at the course. There was an accident on the highway that day and as a result he spent 25 minutes more in the float than he should have done.”

So will he win on Saturday? The answer is implied rather than spelt out – “He is pretty fit and he has done well since the Green Point. I would say that he is probably now at his peak.”

By Michael Clower