David Pfieffer is planning to enter unchartered territory with Whinchat at some stage this year, but his immediate focus is on winning the Listed Civic Stakes at Randwick.
The gelding finished fifth in a strong edition of the sprint 12 months ago, which was taken out by subsequent Group 1 winner Headley Grange.
A free-bowling frontrunner at his best, Whinchat is also his own worst enemy at times, as was the case first-up in the Luskin Star Stakes (1300m) at Scone when he engaged in a speed duel with nemesis Phearson.
“We got a mighty speed battle at Scone and it didn’t suit him,” Pfieffer said.
“Phearson has done it to me once before, a couple of years ago in the Liverpool City Cup. They both just took each other on like idiots.”
The pair have since clashed in a subsequent barrier trial, although Phearson camped behind the leaders in that and finished second to Whinchat, who looked sharp getting the verdict under a strong hold from jockey Robyn Freeman.
The six-year-old has been relatively lightly raced and will be lining up for just his 20th start in Saturday’s Civic Stakes (1400m) at Randwick, with next month’s Listed Winter Challenge (1500m) at Rosehill on July 18 also on the radar.
That is likely to round out his preparation, but longer-term, Pfieffer is keen to see if the horse can stretch his brilliance.
“He’s six, rising seven now, so I’d like to test him over the mile at some stage,” he said.
“We were going to do it last ‘prep’ and aim at The Lakes at Wyong. That track there would be right up his alley, and he actually won the 1350 there that day, but we had a setback leading into it.
“I’m thinking if we can try him over 1500 in a few weeks’ time then he might go to the paddock and aim up for something like that at the back end of the year.”
The Listed sprint is the feature of the 10 races at Randwick next weekend.
