Exciting staying prospect Esteban will be the focus of attention when he makes an early start to his ambitious 2017 program at Rosehill on Saturday.

It seems a long way out but trainer John Sargent is plotting a campaign for Esteban that goes beyond the autumn to next spring and the Caulfield Cup.

Esteban recorded four wins, some by huge margins, during the winter that established his credentials as a future Group performer.

His combined winning margins in those four wins that took him from provincial to city grade was almost 26 lengths. The Encosta De Lago gelding’s record now stands at four wins and one placing from nine starts.

Last spring’s big staying races came too soon for the lightly-raced 4YO with Sargent, an ex-Kiwi trainer known for his patience with stayers, happy to bide his time and plot a course aimed at seeing Esteban realise his potential in 2017.

Raced by a syndicate headed by Kevin Maloney’s Segenhoe Stud, Esteban resumes over 1200m at Rosehill on Saturday after two easy barrier trials that saw him go to the line with plenty in hand.

“He has come up extra well and is ready to go over 1200m before working through the distances,” Sargent said.

“He seems a lot stronger and more mature mentally and physically. I couldn’t be happier with the horse starting off a campaign.”

An early target in 2017 is likely to be the $300,000 Mornington Cup on March 25 as the race gives the winner automatic inclusion in the field for the 2017 Caulfield Cup next October, a race Sargent identified some time ago as the ultimate goal for the young stayer.

“We’ll run him through his grades at this stage and look at the Mornington Cup to qualify for the Caulfield Cup. We aim to have him in the big handicaps with low weights,” Sargent said.

“We don’t want to be too hard on him because if you look at the spring the horses that have done well don’t have a hard autumn.”