"So we are heading north because we have to get going. I want to get this race and the Sarten Memorial into him at Te Rapa to have him ready for the Guineas at Riccarton, which is only six weeks away."
Slipper Island was rated so highly last season he went to Queensland for a campaign, one cut short by the big wet there.
He showed he had taken no harm from that with an easy trial win at Cambridge last week in which Desert Lightning finished fourth.
Desert Lightning raced well at Group 1 level last season and looks the real deal but trainer Peter Williams warns he is still learning.
"He is a really nice horse but he is still learning, which is one of the reasons he can get out of his ground in his races," says Williams.
"So while he will go well this week he will improve with it and he is being set for Riccarton."
Slipper Island is drawn widest of the big three but has the tactical speed to go forward, yet with Sacred Satono having the advantage of a recent race he could give the favoured pair plenty to chase.
Pike also takes Tellall (R4, No 4) to Ruakaka and after three trials he will be ready. But the trainer expects post-race improvement from his clash with black-type performers Gino Severini and Vigor Winner.
Belle En Rouge, who got too far out of her ground fresh-up at Te Rapa last time, looks well placed carrying just 53kg but the question remains whether the 1400m is still too short of her best.
Pike will line up former age group sensation Catalyst for the second start under his care at Sandown on Sunday.
Catalyst, like so many others this spring, wasn't suited by the wet track during his recent comeback at The Valley and meets former Kiwi galloper I Wish I Win in a 1300m event.
"Our horse is well but the race has come up strong."
Dragon Leap also heads to Sandown on Sunday but his co-trainer Andrew Scott has confirmed Tarzino Trophy winner Dark Destroyer will miss the remaining two legs of the Hawke's Bay Triple Crown.
"His fresh-up win took a bit out of him and then he had a temperature spike so he is having the week off and then we will meet to decide his next target," says Scott.