Don't get Davina Waddell wrong - her decision to pull Shinko Prince out of Thorndon Mile contention has nothing to do with his ability.
While he may have been a longshot to make the field for Trentham on January 29, Waddell believes her impressive Thames progressive grade winner on Saturday
will measure up to the very best.
"He's always showed me incredible potential - I just think he's looking for more ground now," said Waddell.
"We have been held back getting a line on him because he has been ridden further back than I had instructed.
"I told Cameron [Lammas] to put him in the race at Thames and looked what happened."
Lammas, who made a lightning move to have Shinko Prince in the lead well before the turn, kicked the Shinko King gelding out to win by an untested five lengths.
Shinko Prince thrashed the weakest field he's met in recent starts but the margin flattered the rest.
Lammas jumped off and told Waddell what she had known all along - that his future lay over more ground than Saturday's 1700m.
Waddell also now won't attent the Wellington carnival this month with her open grade handicap star, All's Well.
A $35 fixed odds hope with the TAB for the Wellington Cup, All's Well will instead be set for the Marton Cup on Saturday.
"We'll give him one more start, then give him a short break before the autumn," said Waddell, who is yet to confirm a rider for Awapuni.
Waddell was devastated when All's Well got stuck on the ballot for the Auckland Cup.
All's Well was so impressive in winning in PQ company at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, Waddell got a firm commitment from Mark Du Plessis to ride the horse again in the Cup, if he made the final field.
Du Plessis only switched to eventual winner Bazelle when it become evident All's Well wouldn't gain the two scratchings he needed to run.
"Mark got off him after the Avondale Cup and said he would have won if he hadn't lost a shoe and the pad he had on a crook foot," said Waddell.
"He also told us he'd come back to New Zealand to ride the horse again, as long as it didn't clash with a commitment in Singapore."
"We've got plenty of options with him in the autumn and next spring," said Waddell.
"We may even look at a race like the Queen Elizabeth in Sydney in April, then the Adelaide Cup in May."
Don't get Davina Waddell wrong - her decision to pull Shinko Prince out of Thorndon Mile contention has nothing to do with his ability.
While he may have been a longshot to make the field for Trentham on January 29, Waddell believes her impressive Thames progressive grade winner on Saturday
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