Tassie horseman Adam Trinder has the 2019 Ladbrokes Cox Plate as the big spring aim for Mystic Journey and said a top three run fresh in Saturday’s Group 2 $200,000 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m) would be enough to please him.

2019 Cox Plate favourite Mystic Journey begins her spring campaign in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes this weekend. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The punters have rallied around the returning Needs Further mare, Mystic Journey racing in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield first-up as a four-year-old.

She was the odds-on favourite in P.B. Lawrence Stakes betting at Ladbrokes.com.au paying $1.85 before drifting out to $2.25 on race morning to salute in her seventh straight victory.

Trinder said continuing the winning streak and the fairy tale for the bargain buy filly would be great, but that it was far more important to have her peaking come October 26 for the Group 1 $5 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley.

“We have an objective that we’d like to be able to obtain and that’s moving forward to a Cox Plate in October,” Trinder told the press on Friday.

“If she runs top three, that’s good enough for me.

“We’d obviously like to protect her record but we are not scared of defeat.”

Mystic Journey won on Cox Plate Day last spring and got a taste of the big time on a day where Winx made history with her fourth consecutive win in the weight-for-age classic.

Twelve months on and the Moonee Valley Fillies Classic winner looks set to start favourite in the big one after a brilliant autumn campaign that saw her take out the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) and $5 million All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington.

Mystic Journey jumps from barrier two in the 11-starter P.B. Lawrence Stakes field this season with her biggest threat in gate five where Godolphin warhorse Hartnell kicks off his spring.

Hartnell won the P.B. Lawrence in 2017, finished second last year and pays $3.80 having been heavily backed in from $5.50 odds to return to winning form again.

The now nine-year-old was last seen finishing third to Winx in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on April 13 in Sydney, which was his incredible 28^th Group 1 start.

He too is an All-Star Mile graduate from the autumn having placed second behind Mystic Journey and there is plenty to suggest he can turn the tables in an upset P.B. Lawrence Stakes win.

Futures Cox Plate odds at race sponsor Ladbrokes.com.au list Mystic Journey at $4.50, while Hartnell who placed second to Winx in the 2016 edition, currently pays $13.