Stephen Marsh admits he's under pressure with his Singapore arrival War Affair in the group two Lisa Chittick Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa on Saturday.
The Cambridge trainer knows he has one of the highest-rated horses in the country, but that won't be enough to earn the eight-year-old son of O'Reilly a crack at the group one Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings on September 1.
War Affair has earned more than $3 million in prizemoney and is the winner of 12 races, including the S$500,000 Patron's Bowl (1600m) and the S$500,000 Raffles Cup (1800m).
Those performances have earned War Affair a New Zealand rating of 110 and only the multiple group one winner Bonneval is above him, on 112.
But War Affair is sitting 27th in order to get a start in the Tarzino Trophy, with preference given to horses who have performed at group level over the past 18 months, and that puts the pressure on him this weekend.