Punters gave her little hope but Cranbourne trainer Mick Kent hit a long-range target when Quilate upset her opposition in Wednesday's Group III Ladies' Day Vase (1600m) at Caulfield.
Kent picked out the $150,000 race during the mare's winter spell before Quilate lived up to her trainer's assessment with a good first-up third at Mornington before she ran home well to score on the same track on September 30.
Bookies and punters thought the jump from Benchmark 70 grade to a Group III contest was beyond Quilate, who started at $41, but over-ran Flying Jess ($4.40) and Prompt Response ($3.90) in the last few bounds under the riding of apprentice Beau Mertens.
"We set this mare for this race a while ago," Kent said. "She ran really well first-up and won softly second-up and this was a target for us.
"We thought she had a bit more to give after her last prep and she had improved in her spell. She really thickened up and finally developed and got mature.
"They put the speed on a fair way out and she had to battle. I was very confident she was going to run a place and halfway (down the straight) she was going to do that and she wore them down."
The Lindsay Park-trained mare Hell Or Highwater started as the $3.80 favourite but faded to finish eighth after leading the field to the home turn.
Kent said he would give Quilate a chance at another Group III win at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day.
Meanwhile, Cranbourne trainer Udyta Clarke was thrilled to win the Italktravel Stakes (1200m) with Rich Charm.
Patrick Moloney steered Rich Charm ($5.50) home to score by a half-head over Keen Array ($5), who led for most of the race while Adelaide galloper So You Too ($9) was two lengths away in third.
