"But it is actually an ideal lead-up to the Stradbroke at Eagle Farm (June 8) and I think he can finish top four this Saturday.
"If he does that then he will be as good as guaranteed a run in the Stradbroke and I can set him for that without another run, which is how he goes best."
Our best sprinters rarely even bother taking on Australia's speed freaks these days as we are rarely competitive under 1600m in open aged events, with Turn Me Loose the last New Zealand-trained winner of an open Australian group one shorter than 1600m when
he won the Futurity at Caulfield in February, 2016.
But Bostonian showed enough in an unbeaten three-start Queensland campaign last winter to suggest he won't be outclassed come the A$1.5 million Stradbroke.
"He comes to his peak at this time of the year but we are under no illusions as to how tough these races are," says Pike.
"And this is looking a particularly strong Queensland carnival with all the big stables heading there."
Two of those mega stables stand between Bostonian and the Doomben winner's circle this Saturday with Osborne Bulls (James Cummings) and Nature Strip (Chris Waller) heading the market.
Remarkably, Nature Strip was the centre of an extraordinarily large bet with the Australian TAB yesterday when A$200,000 was placed on him straight after the draw, seeing the market totally re-shaped as he went from $3 to $1.85 on that side of the Tasman.
He is a $1.90 chance with our TAB in the hands of champion New Zealand jockey James McDonald.
While Pike has a feature-race plan in place for Bostonian he may have to detour to mid-week racing with Intrigue to guarantee her a spot in the Queensland Oaks. In a touch of deja vu from the training masterstroke Pike pulled with Provocative before she won the Oaks three years ago, Pike is looking to take Intrigue to a three-year-old race on the Sunshine Coast next Wednesday to earn enough money to get into the Oaks.
He did the same three years ago when he trucked all the way to Ipswich with Provocative and won a minor race to sneak onto the ballot for the Queensland Oaks, which she subsequently bolted away with.
Intrigue is co-owned by the same connections and is also a late emerging filly who Pike was pleased with even though she was only seventh in the Gold Cost Bracelet last Saturday. "The track was too heavy for her but she kept fighting and we now just have to get her into the Oaks."
Pike will also have Terra Sancta up against fellow Kiwi galloper Beefeater (race five) on Saturday while the Moroney/Gerard-trained She's A Thief takes on strong three-year-old company in the fourth race.
The Nigel Tiley-trained pair of Demonetization and Megablast clash with Mongolianconqueror for Jamie Richards and top mare Igraine in the Chairman's Handicap while some promising Waikato three-year-olds are set to join the transtasman assault in coming weeks.
Doomben 10,000
• Bostonian will fly the Kiwi flag in Saturday's A$800,000 sprint in Brisbane.
• He is unbeaten in three starts in Queensland but steps up to group one level this week.
• Race rival Nature Strip, to be ridden my James McDonald, was the centre of a A$200,000 bet yesterday.
