She's cranky and a creature of habit, but according to the man who knows her best, that's what makes Secret Garden such a fierce competitor, .

Understanding Secret Garden's habits and working with, rather than against, the mare has enabled Paul Nolan jnr to extract the best out of her on raceday.

"She likes a set routine like having a pick of grass out in the back yard every afternoon or else she sulks," Nolan said.

"But when she can gallop like she can she's not hard to put up with."

Secret Garden's competitive nature kicks in as soon as she enters the parade enclosure.

"She can't walk in formation with the other runners because if she spots another horse in front of her she just wants to get past them and will try to charge over the top of them," her trainer said.

"It's a great characteristic to have in a mare and as a consequence you get a very honest racehorse but we have to be careful how we deal with her."

The trainer is mindful of the task confronting Secret Garden as she strives for a hat-trick of wins in Saturday's James Brockhurst Handicap (2200m) at Doomben.

"The combination of the 58 kilos and an awkward alley makes it a bit tricky for her and as we know weight will stop a train," he said.

"Volkhere is the one I'm worried about because she only just beat him when he was jumping from 1400 metres to 2000 metres and we have to give him four kilos this time compared to one-and-a-half kilos last time."

Nolan says races such as the Ipswich and Caloundra Cups during the latter stages of the winter carnival are options for Secret Garden if her form warrants it.

The Toowoomba Cup is a long-term goal for Secret Garden but Nolan wants to wait until next year to chase a hometown victory when the Clifford Park track reverts to turf from a cushion racing surface.

"She'd be an ideal Toowoomba Cup horse. It's just a damn shame it's run on the cushion," he said.

"We'll let the cushion horses have their last few days in the sun in this year's Cup and hopefully the thing gets ripped up the very next day and we can go back to having a grass track."