Don't expect La Crique to be at Hastings for the Group 1 Classic on Saturday.
While the connections of the stunning winner of the Group 1 Plate at Matamata last Saturday will not decide until tomorrow whether they back her up in the Classic this weekend, it looks certain she will bypass the race.
That would enormously increase the chances La Crique heads to Australia, with the A$1 million Empire Rose at Flemington on October 29 the seemingly perfect target.
While La Crique would only need to turn up at Hastings in the form she was in on Saturday to win the Classic, co-trainer Katrina Alexander admits that would be more or less repeating what she did last weekend.
Instead Australia beckons. Alexander and her husband Simon have form in bypassing logical and winnable local targets in preference for a major Aussie goal, and then achieving that goal.