Some advice from one of the owners of Vicario about the most suitable distance for the three-year-old filly has resulted in a win at Caulfield on Saturday.

Vicario ($21), started from the outside barrier but she ran down the $3.20 favourite Octavia in the Yarra Valley Farms Plate (1200m) to sneak home by a short half-head.

Valid Contract, specked as an $18 chance, finished a length away third.

Trainer Mick Price said owner Graham Ireland, a good student of form with an opinion he respected, suggested Vicario should be kept fresh for a 1200-metre race after falling short in recent 1400-metre attempts.

"She needed a race like that with a little bit of speed so she could finish strongly," Price said.

Price has not planned a spring program for Vicario, saying he'll just "plug along" looking for races with good prize money.