VILLETTE may have gone off at 25/1 at Newmarket yesterday but she duly landed another win, the fourth of her career, all of which have been at big double figure odds.
One of 14 runners in the 0-80 handicap for 3yos and upwards over a mile, the daughter of Sixties Icon was held up initially by regular pilot, Rob Hornby. Two furlongs out, she made good progress travelling strongly and hit the front just over a furlong from home. Despite idling and hanging left, she held on by a neck from Madeline Bond.
The four-year-old bay filly was having just her 11th race having made a winning debut at 20/1 at Kempton in March of last year over 1m4f under Luke Morris. Her second win was a 50/1 success at Lingfield in a 1m2f handicap at Leicester last October. After having dead-heated with Entangling, she won the race outright in the Stewards’ Room, her first for Rob Hornby.
Her third win was earlier this year in June, back at Kempton in June over 1m3f when she won gamely by a head at 33/1, again under Rob Hornby.
Yesterday’s win was her first after a wind operation and her first race back after 115 days away from the track. What may have surprised a few was that this was her first try over a mile but there was no doubting she appreciated the drop back in trip along with the soft ground.
Villette was a bargain purchase at 5,500 guineas at Newmarket in December 2016 and she has already paid that back in spades with four wins in just eleven starts. She is another example of a horse who has been given time by the yard to show her true potential.
The filly was the 31st success of the year for Harper Lodge Farm.