Lightly raced That Girl will chase her first Melbourne win when she runs at Flemington for the first time and trainer Phillip Stokes believes she can be a force.

That Girl was spelled after she made an impressive winning debut in Adelaide in June.

She made her return at Pakenham on December 7 in a metropolitan grade benchmark-70 for three-year-olds over 1000m.

The filly was sent out the $3.40 favourite but had to settle for second to promising sprinter Star Surprise who came from back in the field to score by 1-1/4 lengths.

That Girl has her third career start in Saturday's Candy Cane Lane Plate, her first time racing over the straight 1200m at Flemington, and she is the $3.40 favourite in an early market.

Stokes thought there was still merit in That Girl's first-up run and he has been pleased with how she has progressed.

“I thought her run was very good. She had improvement to come in her coat and we might have ridden her a bit pretty that day,” Stokes said.

“We might have been better off riding her a bit quieter and I think she would have shown a bit better turn of foot, like the winner did.”

Luke Nolen is aboard for Saturday's race after missing the ride at Pakenham through illness.

“She has trained on beautifully,” Stokes said.

Stokes said he was thinking about giving That Girl a light summer before looking to try to snare black-type later in the season in either Melbourne or Adelaide.