Trainer Daniel Bowman has a spring goal with his talented galloper Begood Toya Mother who will be shooting for a fifth consecutive victory at Caulfield.
But a pathway to Bowman's chosen target of the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes is blurred with some reprogramming of spring dates.
Begood Toya Mother, successful over 1400m at Flemington on May 18, contests Saturday's Ladbrokes Odds Boost Handicap, a heat of the VRC-CRV Winter Championships, and if successful will be off to spell.
But to be a player in bigger spring races, Begood Toya Mother needs a significant ratings increase.
Bowman said he's got the predicament of whether to go for one more start now or wait for the early spring to build that rating.
"The longer he stays in work, the less amount of time he gets to have in the paddock," Bowman said.
"If he wins on Saturday he'll get three weeks in the paddock and be back in time for something like the Regal Roller.
"The Rupert Clarke is a race that gets tossed around a lot, it hasn't really had a fixed date and there's not really a clear path to it.
"We've done a bit of work looking at the calendar, got a bit of a program mapped out to get there third up, but a lot of it's going to hinge on winning Saturday and winning one of his early spring races.
"He has to keep putting the picket fence together."
Begood Toya Mother has drawn widest in Saturday's 1440m race which will importantly give the gelding a look at the Caulfield lay-out.
Bowman isn't concerned by the draw saying the gelding is adaptable.
"He had a lot go against him the other day but he still managed to get out and put them away in a few strides," Bowman said.
"He wasn't able to run any super times or anything to impress the data watchers, it was more the way he did it that was impressive.
"That was three weeks between runs, back to two weeks suits better.
"He's nice and sharp and ready to go."