Sir Patrick Hogan will be keeping a close eye on whether Katie Lee is biting stable staff and treating her handlers badly in the next three weeks.

If she is, she's a good chance of taking on the best three-year-olds in the country in the $2.2 million New Zealand Derby (2400m) on March 6.

Katie Lee sewed up the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year when she won the Saturday's Group Two Sir Tristram Classic (2000m) at Te Rapa, a race Sir Patrick's Cambridge Stud sponsors.

Sir Patrick has said in the past month that he wanted to secure the Filly of the Year title before he even considered a Derby start, and co-trainer Graeme Rogerson said after the Sir Tristram he will do his best to convince Sir Patrick to run her in the Derby.

Now that she's secured the series, Sir Patrick still wants to make sure she's her normal, moody self before heading to the Derby.

"You can only describe her as a bitch," said Sir Patrick. "She bites you and needs to show everyone she's the boss.

"We'll also want to be making sure her blood test results are still good. She's been in training since August and we want to make sure she's still the same before she runs again.

"My father told me that when they are winning, don't stop, but at their first bad race, we should stop."

Katie Lee settled close to the pace for Mark Du Plessis who was deputising for Opie Bosson.

He shot her clear 300m out and she just held out a late challenge from November Rain.

The Derby is shaping to be a good one for fillies as the current favourite is another female, last week's Waikato Guineas winner Zarzuela.

Meanwhile, the 2008 Sir Tristram Classic winner Veloce Bella finally picked up a Group One success after outstaying her opponents to win the Darci Brahma International Stakes (2000m) at the Te Rapa meeting.

Until Saturday, Veloce Bella had recorded placings only in her Group One attempts and she was somewhat unfortunate to be in the same fillies crop as Princess Coup, who beat her in the New Zealand Oaks.