The Matamata trainer had a smile back on his face after her successful return in the Mills Reef Winery and Restaurant 1200 on Saturday.
"Sometimes with fillies everything can go wrong and it pretty much did,"
Richardson said.After two wins last season from as many starts, including a victory in the Listed Castletown Stakes, Richardson was understandably keen to get the daughter of Foxwedge to Riccarton for the Group I gavelhouse.com NZ 1000 Guineas.
Unfortunately, Volpe Veloce's classic preparation got off to a disappointing start when she lashed out in the barrier before the Group III Gold Trail Stakes and was a late scratching.
"That was out of the blue – she'd had two trials and two races before that and she'd been good in the gates," Richardson said.
Volpe Veloce then missed a run at Te Rapa with an elevated temperature and a subsequent run of unsuitably wet tracks further stalled her preparation and ultimately ended the Christchurch dream.
"She's out of the 1000 Guineas, but here's plenty of races up here and she'll have fresh legs for the Christmas racing," Richardson said.
Johnathan Parkes rode Volpe Veloce in her Castletown Stakes victory last term and he was more than happy to head north to Tauranga to continue his association with the horse.
"She's a pretty classy filly with a lot ahead of her," he said. "She always felt like she was in control and she did it with a leg in the air."
Volpe Veloce sat outside the leader to the turn and then glided clear to win by a couple of lengths from her stablemate Secret Stash.
A $240,000 Karaka yearling purchase from the Lyndhurst Farm draft, Volpe Veloce was a successful pinhook for Lyndhurst having been bought for $120,000 at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale.
She is a half-sister to stakes-winner Delago Bolt and is the fourth winner from Group III winner Bardego.
