Craig Grylls made an exception to ride Villifye at Gate Pa on Saturday and it paid off big time.
Grylls had to waste to ride Villifye at the minimum of 52kg and he admitted later he wasn't coping well with the weight-loss.
"The last time I rode at 52 was on her (Villifye) in the Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie on New Year's Day," said Grylls. "That knocked me around a fair bit and I told my manager, Mark Claydon, afterwards that I wouldn't be doing that again for a while."
But Grylls changed his mind when offered the chance to again ride Villifye in the Group II $85,000 Windsor Park Stud Japan Trophy (1600m) at Saturday's Racing Tauranga meeting.
"I knew she was a good ride," said Grylls. "She went a top race in the Rich Hill Mile for third and it was another top run last time. She's a good mare."
But Grylls again felt the pressure of wasting to 52kg. "It would have been too tough if I'd had more rides on the day."
Villifye followed up her Rich Hill Mile placing with a fourth in the Anniversary Handicap at Trentham when ridden by Vinnie Colgan and Grylls was back aboard when she ran 10th in a fillies and mares' 1400 at Ellerslie. In the latter event she was doing her best work over the final stages and was less than four lengths from the winner, Fazzle.
Villifye had registered three wins from nine starts when trainer Graham Richardson decided to tackle the Tauranga feature and there was some confidence in the chances. "But I was a bit worried about the sticky track, just like a lot of trainers," said Richardson.
Grylls settled Villifye back in the field and put her into a winning position entering the home straight. From there on it was a fight with the ultra-consistent Postman's Daughter and Jeu De Cartes, but over the final stages she proved toughest, scoring by a long head.
Postman's Daughter was gallant in defeat after carrying 4.5kg more than the winner, while Jeu de Cartes wound up third, a long head further afield. Sum Up and Acapela deadheated for fourth.
Villifye is owned by the Oxford Thoroughbreds No2 Syndicate, whose members include the mare's breeders, Kylie Fawcett and Eddie Wright. It was a similar syndicate which raced Our Keepsake, a Group I winner from the Andrew Scott stable.
"The big thing with her is that she's so tough," said Richardson. "She's going to make a lovely mile and a quarter (2000m) horse later on."
Villifye will come up against Postman's Daughter again in the Breeders' Stakes at Te Aroha next month.