She overcame a red hot field to win the Cox Plate but even that would be a distant second career achievement were Pinker Pinker to upstage Black Caviar first up in 2012.

The two look likely to meet with Black Caviar being stepped out to the 1400m of the Futurity Stakes and Pinker Pinker starting off over the shorter trip as she builds her autumn prep.

In reality it’s not a fair matchup for a horse that excelled over 2040m in the Cox Plate but at the very least it does ensure Black Caviar faces a rival with genuine class.

Pinker Pinker’s trainer Greg Eurell says he’s likely to use the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield before sending his mare up north next year.

“She may kick off in the Futurity then the Chipping Norton and weave our way through Sydney,” he said.

The Australian Cup won’t be a part of the program as he feels it’s a grand final that arrives too soon.

“The Australian Cup comes up a little quick and you are sort of left with nothing if you go there,” he said.

“Ideally, if we can get four or five runs in this time in and then put her out and give her another go at the spring.”

Eurell says he’s left with limited options over the autumn as his mare is now effectively weighted out of contention in handicaps.

She will still be nominated for the Doncaster Handicap but the weight for age races will now almost exclusively be her domain.

If Eurell can’t find the races he wants at home he’s even open to the option of sending her to Hong Kong for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in late April.

Pinker Pinker has been in the spelling paddock for a few weeks now on the Mornington Peninsula and isn’t far off returning to work.

“She looks sensational,” Eurell said.

“She has put on a bit of beef, there’s a bit to work on.”