Thousands of kilometres separate the border region of China, Mongolia and Russia where Bob Onikul lived to his Rosehill stable but for the trainer the journey has been about one thing - a love of horses.

On Australia Day, Onikul will be at Warwick Farm where his six-year-old mare Stealapipe will run in the Australia Day Cup.

He was just 15 years old when he migrated to Australia in 1964 with family members who lived through the Russian revolution and Onikul admits he experienced a culture shock during his early days in Australia.

"I didn't even know Australia had horses, though I was very pleased to discover how big (the horse industry) is," Onikul told AAP.

"Where I lived on the border, growing up around animals, horses were a necessity - a way of life. Without them there was no transport.

"Here people ride horses to make a buck, except for pleasure riding. It's a novelty in Australia."

His love of horses led him to the racetrack where he worked his way up to eventually earn his trainer's licence.

Onikul says the passion for horses that bit him as a youngster on a farm half a world away still burns.

"There's just something that draws you to horses," Onikul said.

He trains a small team at Rosehill with his stable runners producing some consistent performances.

"I've got four horses and three are winning. It's not a bad strike rate," Onikul said.

Stealapipe will head into Saturday's race on the back of a dominant six-length win at her last outing at Gosford last month.

"We always thought she would develop into a handy stayer," Onikul said.

"She didn't start racing until she turned four and was slow to mature."

Stealapipe has the bloodline for endurance events with her mother, Kilspindie winning the Group Three St Leger in Adelaide over 2800 metres in 1999.