Canberra Mile allows Room to move towards the Canberra Cup

And now she's one of the local hopes in the $150,000 Canberra Mile (1600 metres) - where there's two spots in the listed Canberra Cup on the line.

A case of synchronicity led to the five-year-old mare getting her name, with her lot number at the sales matching the room number of one of her future buyers.

She impressed instantly, finishing third in her first two races before saluting in just her third.

But she lost her way for a while before suddenly rediscovering it again.

That's seen her win her last three starts, with the final leg of that hat-trick victory in the Bega Cup on the Sapphire Coast nearly four weeks ago.

Now trainer Paul Jones, part of the Joseph Jones Racing triumvirate, has her set for the Canberra Cup, for which she can earn a spot by finishing either first or second in the Mile.

Jones said she's looking good as she looks to complete the tough ask of making it four on the trot.

"She looks really well. She's really just come on as far as eating and her looks are just impeccable," he said.

"She had really nice work on Monday leading into Friday ... just shows she's still up to the mark and still wanting to do it.

"She's been an overnight sensation that's taken about four years to come to fruition.

"She won her first maiden like Bernborough and we thought, 'We've got a nice horse here', but she just went off the rails for some reason.

"Only she can tell us, but she can't. She was just going through the motions and all of a sudden she started putting some runs together which were a bit above what she's been showing previously."

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Jones was under no illusions to how tough a task the Mile was shaping up to be with some quality horses coming up from Sydney, not to mention fellow Canberra trainer Matthew Dale's Five Kingdom.

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott are sending Parramatta Cup winner Sacramento, while Jones also rated Godolphin's Lackeen, as well as fellow Sydney raiders Savvy Valentino and Monegal.

"Sacramento's obviously resuming - he's an out-and-out stayer, but starting first-up in a mile and it's trained by Gai so we know it's going to be rock-hard fit," Jones said.

"It likes to roll along, it's drawn barrier one - I can't imagine them giving up that spot.

"Lackeen's been up for a little while now, but he's been running nice races and won in Sydney and second in a listed race so he's bringing good form to the table as well."

The Black Opal Preview (1000m) is also part of the nine-race meet at Canberra's Thoroughbred Park, with the first two earning spots in the group 3 Black Opal Stakes.

Norm Gardner's Lethal Lady, which won on debut at Canberra three weeks ago, and Nick Olive's Nalabelle lead the local charge.

Nalabelle won her last start by eight lengths at Wagga Wagga.

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