Trainer Guy Walter is hopeful that Toydini can progress to Group 1 level during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival with the Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick on August 5 the major spring target for the gelding.

Toydini will begin his 2013 Spring Racing Carnival campaign in the Warwick Stakes on Saturday. Photo by: Steve Hart

Toydini will make his racing debut as a four-year-old against a tough field in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m) on Saturday and will be looking to recapture the form that he showed during the 2013 Autumn Racing Carnival.

The son of Bernardini won only once in his first ten trips to the races but improved significantly earlier this year to record dominant victories in the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill and the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) at Randwick – beating Chris Waller-trained Hawkspur who went on to win the Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) during the 2013 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival.

Walter told Racing Ahead that Toydini was a much superior horse after being gelded and believes he now has a better understanding of the impressive galloper.

“He did really well,” Walter said on RSN.

“He was gelded which made a huge difference to him and he is a horse that likes to have his races spaced a bit.

“He is more a sprinter/miler than a middle distance style horse.”

Walter is happy with how Toydini has returned this preparation and although he doesn’t want to look too far ahead believes that the four-year-old is good enough to contest the Epsom Handicap.

“You can put pressure on them but at this stage we are hoping he can be a Epsom horse and possibly go to Melbourne,” the veteran trainer said.

“All that is a long way off and he has to prove himself first, but he is a horse with a lot of potential.”

Toydini will be looking to go one better than his dam Johan’s Toy who finished second behind Desert War in the 2005 edition of the Epsom Handicap.