ACT Of War, winner of the Cape Guineas but below par when only second in the Cape Derby, had a warm-up for the Rising Sun in the Winter Guineas at Kenilworth.

He started at a prohibitive 1/4 but had to work hard to get the better of opponents rated far below him. To be fair, he was conceding 7lb and had been away on a farm for a break since his last run.

“I wasn’t expecting any more and I thought it was a pretty good effort,”’ said trainer Joey Ramsden who, however, has serious concerns about the colt being drawn on the wide outside in the Greyville race. Indeed the horse may not run unless the field cuts up.

Owner Markus Jooste was intent on sending him to race overseas but seemingly there has been no satisfactory response from the American authorities about dropping the requirement to cover two mares before completing quarantine and Jooste is against going the Mauritius route.

Indeed Derek Brugman, his racing manager, has been talking about putting him away for next season without a further run.