Fine Wine has matured into a sprinter to be reckoned with this winter and trainer Scott Dixon hopes he continue on an upward curve as he plots a path towards the All-Weather Championships Finals at Newcastle on Good Friday.
The five-year-old has won nine of his 28 races, including six on artificial surfaces, and will seek to complete a hat-trick at Southwell on New Year's Day.
A son of Dream Ahead, Fine Wine picked up injury in the Dash at Epsom in June, but has looked better than ever in two starts since his return, latterly powering to success over the minimum trip at Newcastle.
Dixon is eyeing a return to the Gosforth Park track at Easter.
He said: "That's the plan. He's next going to go for a five-furlong race on New Year's Day at Southwell. It is a 0-105 and he is off 103 now. He has come out of his last race absolutely fine."
Fine Wine has won his last three races at Southwell, where Dixon trains, and the handler is looking to take full advantage on home ground.
He said: "Obviously, he has got good form at Southwell and the race on New Year's Day is a race we have won quite a few times over the years with different sprinters, like Crosse Fire and Even Stevens.
"It's always nice to win on New Year's Day – I'm not saying we are definitely going to win, but he has been impressive this winter already. He is hard to peg back there."
All-Weather Championships Finals Day boasts prize money of over £1million, making it the richest all-weather race day staged in Europe – and Dixon is hopeful that Fine Wine will handle the extra furlong of the Sprint, with the majority of his races having come over five furlongs.
"I thought he stayed on well last time, so possibly the six furlongs at Newcastle isn't going to be an issue," he said.
"That is the only question mark, whether it is a touch too far, but he was staying on well last time.
"When he won last time, he broke the track record (on going described as standard to slow), so it couldn't have been that slow."
Fine Wine had started to flourish on turf in the spring, with a three-length defeat of subsequent Group-race winner Raasel at York among the highlights.
Dixon is hoping that he can make up for some lost time on the grass next year after injury prematurely curtailed his turf campaign in the early summer.
He explained: "Sadly he picked up a knock in the Dash at Epsom. It was just a flesh wound but it took a long time to get right, so he obviously had a break because of that, which is handy for him going into the winter. We missed a lot of nice races on the turf.
"He was so impressive that day at York. He beat Raasel fairly cosily and we sort of thought about the possibility – and I know it is a bit punchy – of running him in the Prix de l'Abbaye.
"He is just on that Group-class cusp. Let's see how the winter plays out.
"He won't be running very regularly because of his rating, and I like to keep him on straight tracks – I don't like to run him around bends. He is a big heavy-topped horse. We'll see how that goes then he will have a freshen-up for the turf season."
The Group One Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp – which has seen plenty of British success in recent times, including October's win by The Platinum Queen – is not a fanciful target for 2023, according to Dixon.
"He has won on heavy and he's won on good to firm and on Tapeta. I think he's won on Fibresand too," said the trainer.
"The Abbaye is a long way away, but if all goes well, I wouldn't rule out the possibility. He is versatile ground-wise, so if it was soft, I wouldn't be worried."
