The Matt and Mandy Brown-trained filly has quickly become the benchmark for the sophomore fillies after following up a third in early September with victories in the Canterbury Belle Stakes and the listed 3yr-old Ashburton feature in October.
The daughter of So You Think really caught the eye with her stylish last-to-first victory over Heroic Valour at Ashburton, and was moved into favourite by the TAB bookmakers.
There was a chance La Diosa could have started in the 2000 Guineas last weekend, but co-trainer Matt Brown said the quality held up in the colts and geldings’ feature.
"The owners wanted to wait and see if the field dropped away at all in the 2000 Guineas, but it didn’t," he said.
"It kept up pretty strong, so they made the decision to carry on for the 1000, so hopefully the weather holds and we don’t get a wet track."
The rain forecast for Wednesday never eventuated, and 6ml of water was put on the track on Wednesday night after 10 races on a firm surface for the Coupland’s Mile meeting.
Brown would prefer to see the track in the dead range, but persistent rain is forecast for today before easing to showers tomorrow.
"We wouldn’t mind a bit of rain so the track’s not rock hard, but obviously we don’t want it slow to heavy," he said.
"That would be a bit of a concern because we’re not 100% sure how she would handle it. Maybe she will but we’d rather not test that out in a group 1 race."
La Diosa has thrived on the increasing distances in her three starts between 1000m and 1400m this campaign. Her second dam is The Grin, the winner of three races at 1600m, including two listed races. And there is no concern on the sire’s side, with So You Think extending his range out to 3200m in the 2010 Melbourne Cup.
"She’s given every indication that a mile-plus would be right up her alley, so we’re very happy in that regard."
Draws are not a major concern with La Diosa’s racing pattern, as she tends to settle near the rear before unleashing in the straight. She has drawn 6 for the Browns and jockey Racha Cuneen, who has paired with the filly for all three starts this season.
"She’ll just go back and Racha will find a nice spot with her. Hopefully, there’ll be some pace on and she can have a run at them."
The Browns were happy to give the 24-year-old apprentice a chance at group 1 glory.
"We couldn’t take the guy off. He’s done everything right and is really riding her beautifully. It would be pretty tough if we took him off, so we’ll give him a chance and see how he goes."
