Racing: Yet another Australian victory on cards at Ellerslie

Whether you call it an ogre or an aura, the irrepressible Aussie presence will again be hard to ignore when Sister Havana takes on New Zealand's best juveniles in the group one Auckland Diamond Stakes tomorrow.

With a perfect three-from-three scorecard at Ellerslie already this summer, it's little wonder that the locals have had enough of the transtasman raiders.

A Gold Trail began the rout on New Year's Day when he led all the way to win the Railway Stakes.

On the last day in January, Sister Havana chimed in with an easy victory in the Karaka Million, and just last Wednesday Zavite was even more dominant when taking the thick end of another $1 million purse in the Stella Artois Auckland Cup.

On paper at least, a couple of factors will make it a far from straightforward task for Sister Havana to add to her Karaka win and Matamata Breeders' Stakes second.

The first is her wide draw, one from the outside of the 14-horse field, and the other is opposition comprising every member of the domestic 2-year-old crop who should be there.

The worry for each and every one of them, however, is the belief that the Queensland-owned and -trained filly is at least as well as when she ran away with the Karaka Million. Caretaker Pukekohe trainer Garry Newham reports that she has made significant improvement since going down in a photo to the highest-rated New Zealand filly, Banshee.

"She went to the paddock straight after the Karaka Million as it was never the intention to stay around," the former Queenslander explained. "The break didn't do her any harm but it meant that when they changed their mind to run her at Matamata she had lost a bit of her tone.

"She was well by the time she got to Matamata but she's that much better now."

The General Nediym filly's official trainer Liam Birchley was at Pukekohe last weekend to see her work and returned to Brisbane more than satisfied that she was on songfor another shot at Kiwi lucre.

Given her wide draw, jockey Mark Du Plessis will have to do one of two things to overcome the locals: ride her across to the speed within the first 150m, or find a position with cover back in the field.

However his pre-race plan unfolds, redhot Du Plessis will have the advantage of a better appreciation of the chestnut's capabilities after his first-time experience of her at Matamata.

The threats to Sister Havana's prowess come from all directions. First and foremost, there's Banshee, who for a change has been gifted the ace draw as opposed to the outside gates that confronted her before finishing third in the Karaka Million and which didn't stop her at Matamata.

Central Districts colt Cellarmaster brings impressive credentials north, notably the Eclipse Stakes he won over the same Ellerslie 1200m on New Year's Day. He surrendered late to Hastings colt Jimmy Choux in the group two Wakefield Challenge Stakes later in January at Trentham and little went his way when third in the group three Waikato Stud 2YO Classic at New Plymouth three weeks ago.

Jimmy Choux had even less luck on his way to finishing third in the same race, whereas Waikato pair Icepin and Charma lived up to their previous form as the first two home in that race.