Te Awamutu trainer Stephen Ralph scored the biggest result of his career at Ellerslie on New Year's Day when Santa Monica took out the Gr.1 Railway (1200m) and he believes his mare has improved since that run.
The five-year-old daughter of Per Incanto will contest the Gr.3 Concorde Handicap (1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday and he is expecting more of the same from his stable star.
"She has been extremely well, if anything she has definitely improved," Ralph said.
While optimistic heading into Saturday's contest, Ralph said Santa Monica has continued to put on weight over the summer period and he hopes she hasn't put on too much condition ahead of Saturday's contest.
"The problem that we do have is hopefully she hasn't improved too much in condition. Her weight is just climbing all the time," Ralph said.