Short spring campaign for La Diosa

New Zealand Group One winner La Diosa will have a short spring campaign when she returns to racing after a mixed autumn.

The filly gave her sire So You Think, a multiple Group One winner in both hemispheres, his first Group One win in the 1000 Guineas in November.

She came to Sydney in the autumn and, racing as La Bella Diosa, created an immediate impression with victory in the Group Two Surround Stakes.

But her form fell apart in three more starts and she was taken home after finishing last in the Australian Oaks won by another New Zealander, Bonneval.

“She’s been back for three weeks and she’s ticking over nicely,” co-trainer Matt Brown told NZ Racing Desk.

“We’re not making any great plans and she’ll probably have a quiet year and we’ll see how she comes up with maybe a couple of starts at the Riccarton carnival.”

Brown, who trains the filly in partnership with his wife Mandy, said the wet Sydney tracks took their toll.

“We know she doesn’t like wet tracks, but she handled the first one because it was loose,” Brown said.

“We probably should have pulled the pin a bit earlier. She went horribly in the Oaks and struggled to get the 2400 metres.

“She was pretty tired after that and she had a good break. She had two months in the paddock and she looks a lot stronger, she’s pretty happy in herself.”