A Group Three win in New Zealand has the trainers of Fay Fay dreaming of bigger things.

The 2012 Hong Kong Derby winner was close to retirement but trainers Trevor and Martin Cruz persevered and were repaid with Fay Fay's win in Saturday's Tauranga Stakes (1600m).

"Two-and-a-half months ago we considered retiring him. Even getting him to the races is a victory in itself," Trevor Cruz told NZ Thoroughbred Marketing.

"We completely re-worked his training regime so as not to pressure his joints and we have to be very careful with what we can and can't do with him.

"We didn't really have any expectations with him here as he hadn't raced for a year-and-a-half, but we did have him relatively fit and he is a class horse."

Bred by Peter and Barbara Smith, Fay Fay was originally sold at Karaka in 2009 for $13,000 and is now the winner of nearly $2.5 million.

"To be honest, when horses return from Hong Kong it's either because of injury or they're not competitive anymore, Cruz said.

"We were actually using this race as a lead-up to the (Group One) Zabeel Classic so he has exceeded all our expectations. It's very satisfying."

"The other question mark we had about him was the ground. It never gets that soft in Hong Kong."

Fay Fay's owner sent him to New Zealand for pre-training with the intention of taking him back to Hong Kong.

But the depth of good horses there prompted the decision to leave him where he was to extend his career.

After his Derby win in March 2012, Fay Fay ran some good races without winning against top liners such as Military Attack and California memory.