The progress Berkeley Square made during his spring campaign 12 months ago triggered a thought bubble in trainer Jason Warren’s head.
The Warren-trained Gawnski is set to follow a similar campaign to the one Berkeley Square did in the early part of last spring.
And Warren is looking for a similar result on Saturday when Gawnski runs in the VRC Member Matthew Hodder Plate (1410m) at Flemington.
Berkeley Square won the corresponding race last year after finishing runner-up in the VOBIS Gold Ingot (1400m) at Caulfield in his previous outing.
Gawnski chased home Mollynickers in the VOBIS Gold Ingot at his most recent outing on July 22.
“If you take a line through his (Berkeley Square’s) form, that is what triggered us to look at this race closely,” Warren said.
“And we saw what he went on to do in the spring last year.”
Berkeley Square went on to win the Listed Exford Plate at Flemington in September before running fourth in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas and sixth in the Victoria Derby.
Sandwiched between those two efforts was a win in the Moonee Valley Vase (2040m).
Warren expects Gawnski to appreciate getting out a little in trip but would like to knock over a win on Saturday to give the gelding a little break before delving deeper into the spring.
“Essentially, he’s hard fit and he’s going well at this early time of the spring, just as the better races are kicking off,” Warren said.
“I think he will progress over more distance later on, but he’ll have this run and hopefully he can knock off a Saturday win before we give him a little let-up.
“He’s going to get over a bit of ground. He’s a nice horse.”
Berkeley Square also runs on Saturday.
He will be having his first start since last year’s Victoria Derby when he lines up in the VRC Member Dennis Foley Sprint (1410m).
