Barossa Valley trainer Aaron Bain is determined to claim a hometown victory in this Friday’s Gawler Cup, going into the race with renewed confidence and a talented recruit in Dual Pressure.

Partnering with Ned Taylor at Angaston Park, Bain narrowly missed out on Cup success last year when Midnight Mass finished a close runner-up to Bamyan Buddha. With two runners entered this time around, he’s hopeful of redemption in one of his most meaningful races of the year.

“It’s a race that eluded us last year so it’s no secret that we want to win it this year and make it a race that we feature in strongly every year, being our hometown Cup,” Bain said. “It’s not a Group 1 by any means, but it’s close to it in an emotional sense and there is great attachment to us to be able to win it. There is a lot of depth to it and it’s going to take a very good horse to win the race and there will be some hard luck stories.”

Bain purchased Dual Pressure for $220,000 through Inglis Digital last December, and the son of Denman has quickly proven his worth, recording wins at 1200m and 1400m since moving to South Australia from the Mathew Ellerton stable in Victoria.

Now stretching to 1500m, Bain says the gelding gives every indication he will handle the extra distance, with future targets likely to include the Balaklava Cup and Murray Bridge Cup. “It’s no secret that we paid good money for him and, as a sound five-year-old now, he’s a horse that we see being able to run in these are the sort of races for two or three seasons,” Bain said. “We missed the Balaklava Cup and Murray Bridge Cup but Gawler looks the perfect race for him. He was having his first run over 1400m at Murray Bridge on Cup Day and he handled that so he moves to the 1500m at Gawler on Friday and if he can win or be very competitive, it sets him up for those (mile) races next year that we want to be a part of. He’s drawn a beautiful gate so we might land outside Air Assault or even in front, there are a few different speed maps.”

Bain’s determination to win the Gawler Cup reflects not only his hometown pride but his growing reputation as one of South Australia’s rising trainers.

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