Niggling issues have thwarted the promising career of Combat Kitty but trainer Matthew Smith remains optimistic she can make up for lost time.

Since winning a Listed race during the 2011 Melbourne spring carnival, the mare has had just four starts.

Smith said a series of minor issues, rather than one big one, were to blame.

"She's had a lot of little problems but nothing major," he said.

"We would get her in work and then she would have a setback. We had her in and out several times.

"She's got a lot of ability and I've always been inclined to give her time to mature and for her bones to settle down.

"She just needs racing now."

After a two-start spring campaign last year, Combat Kitty resumed with a sound seventh over 1200m at Randwick on May 11 and followed it with a midfield effort over the same track and distance two weeks later.

She steps up to 1400m in Saturday's Lui Cicco Memorial Handicap at Rosehill with top jockey Nash Rawiller aboard.

Given the mare's lack of racing over the past two seasons, Smith is adopting a patient approach and, while he predicts a competitive showing on Saturday, her main goals are further down the track.

"The long-term aim is the spring," Smith said.

"This preparation is about getting some racing under her belt and making sure she has come back.

"Everything she is doing indicates she is on her way back."