Justin Warwick has not ruled out an eastern states campaign for Wink And A Nod after the durable mare landed her first Group success at Belmont Park on Saturday.
The Myalup trainer said Wink And A Nod deserved a possible trip to Melbourne in the spring after she landed a career-best win in the Belmont Sprint (1400m).
“She probably should go to the eastern states,” Warwick said on TABradio.
“If she was trained over there she would be better known.
“She will have one or two races this preparation and then have five or six weeks off which is long as you want to give to a mare of her age.
“Whether we aim at Melbourne we will wait and see because there are some pretty good races that we can target back here.”
If Warwick opts to remain in Perth he is keen for Wink And A Nod to atone and have another crack at the Ascot summer carnival.
The McFlirt mare just fell short of the mark last year when she ran 12th to Good Project in the Group One Railway Stakes (1600m).
However; Warwick believes he may have erred after Wink And A Nod completed an arduous but successful winter campaign.
She dominated the Belmont Park season with feature wins in the Belmont Newmarket (1200m), Idyllic Prince Stakes (1300m) and Farnley Stakes (1400m).
But Warwick will plot an alternate path this year, believing last year’s tough 12-start preparation may have taken its toll on Wink And A Nod.
“I learnt a lot last year and made some glaring errors when you look back,” Warwick said.
“She raced pretty sold through the winter and the bigger races were not so much an afterthought, but we had to go through the grades to get there.
“It all got too much and at some stage you have to stop and settle down because you are racing against superior horses who have fresher legs.”
While Wink And A Nod headlines Warwick’s stable there is a good crop of understudies including exciting maiden winner, Elegant Blast.
Warwick predicts a bright future for the Blackfriars filly who impressively opened her winning account at Belmont last Wednesday.
“She has everything going for her this girl and looks a million dollars,” Warwick said.
“She is a beautiful striding mare who has everything in her favour including her breeding.
“She has come to hand very quickly and you will see a lot of her around the mile mark.
“I will be following her in the next year or so.”
RWWA: Julio Santarelli