Valentine Miss only won by a short half head ahead of Netra on the line but there was plenty of merit in the victory.

With the well-fancied Netra settling in a forward position and setting sail for home around the home turn, Valentine Miss was left slightly flat-footed toward the rear of the field before mustering speed down the outside to overhaul Netra in the last stride.

Valentine Miss ($2.30-$2.70) defeated Netra ($2.20-$5-$2.20 fav) with Meteor Mistress ($9-$11) a further length away in third with the Stacey Rawiller ridden Roof Raiser ($15-$21-$19) in fourth.

Winning rider Stephen Baster revealed that he had some reservations halfway up the straight about whether he would be able to catch Netra.

“It took me a while to get there, she (Netra) kicked pretty well and because of that it took me a while to get there. Her (Valentine Miss) second 600m would have been fast so she’s done a good job," Baster said.

The four-year-old mare was Mark Kavanagh’s only runner of the afternoon at Caulfield and stable foreman Merv Harvey was on hand to see Valentine Miss return to the winners enclosure after finishing second on Boxing Day behind Miss Matari.

“I think there was a bit more speed on today then there was the other day (on Boxing Day) and she’s probably now looking for 1400m,” Harvey said.

“Dropping down 3.5 kilos today helped it was a good ride by Stephen (Baster) so it all worked out good.”

“She’s a gusty mare,” Harvey said before adding “She’s pretty bombproof, she doesn’t need a lot of work - she pretty much trains herself.”

Formerly trained in Western Australia by Shane Edwards, Valentine Miss was stakes placed as a three-year-old filly back in Perth and is now a winner of five from 17 starts with her prizemoney above $240,000.