Avantage Wins Sydney Group 3

In what could amount to the training performance of the season by Jamie Richards, Avantage  (3 f Fastnet Rock - Asavant, by Zabeel) resumed with a courageous win in the $160,000 TAB Birthday Card Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m) on Golden Slipper Day at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney.

Crowned Champion Two-Year-Old last season after winning five of her six starts, including the $1m Karaka Million (Listed, 1200m) and Sires' Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m), Avantage was defiant winning the Gold Trail Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m) last September at Hastings, but spelled soon after with soreness issues.

“She had a muscle problem in her back and if the horses aren't right then it's our policy to spell them,” said Te Akau principal David Ellis. “We're not going to patch up a top filly like her, so we gave her a good spell and she's come back in great shape. Time is a great healer and it's the cheapest.

“She's never been freer in her action than she is now and yesterday Jamie took her to the beach and had a swim with her and said she felt fantastic.”

Patiently handled by the Te Akau team, with a view to preparing for the Sydney Autumn Carnival, Richards gave Avantage two trials, both at Avondale, where without any pressure she rounded off well for second and followed up working through her gears to flatten out and win well.

Despite the trials, six months away from racing and lacking race fitness, combined with a Heavy track, raised some questions, but she quelled those with a hearty performance. Able to lead, with two favoured runners posted to her outside, she was headed by Resin (Exceed and Excel) at the 200m, who sat three deep, but her run was short-lived and Avantage responded to the urgings of Opie Bosson to draw clear for a comfortable victory.

Winning by three-quarters of a length, Avantage ran the 1200 metres in 1:13.50, last 600m in 35.7, and as second favourite in a majority of betting markets (behind Resin) she paid $4.90 & $2.00 on the NZ TAB.

Richards said that Avantage would now be set for the $600,000 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (Gr. 2, 1200m) on Saturday 13 April at Royal Randwick, where she shortened in betting from $15 to $11 following the win.

Ellis purchased Avantage as  yearling for $210,000 at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale, and the flying filly has won seven of her eight starts and $890,000 in prize money for the Te Akau Avantage Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM). To put a price on her current broodmare value would be in the millions.

“It's not easy to beat them in Sydney, so that was very exciting for everyone,” Ellis said. “It was a fantastic training effort by Jamie to have a horse ready that hadn't had a start for six months, but he knows her so well; just the sort of work she needs and I thought it was an amazing job to get her ready to best such a good field of fillies and mares. It's an incredible effort by Jamie and all the team.

“It was a beautiful ride by Opie. He brought her off the rail in the straight so she could see the other horse (Resin) and she's just so competitive. She hates being beaten.

“I know she's a Champion, but this is the sort of horse I'm trying to buy. A filly or colt that can race well at two, go on and win big races at three, and in her case I can see her having her best season next year as a four-year-old. She's bred to run in a Cox Plate (2040m) and they're the sort of races we'd love to see her in. She's a powerful, strong filly. 

“Most of the owners have been with us for a long time and huge supporters of Te Akau Racing. A lot of them have invested in new horses this year and it's great to see them getting the thrill of a lifetime with a filly like Avantage. 

“Quite a few of the owners went over to see her race and it would be an amazing thrill for them. 

“I bought the filly off Coolmore Stud, as a foal share with her breeders, Willie and Karen Calder. They're great supporters of ours, they've got three horses in work with us, and a Southland couple, what they've achieved as breeders is nothing short of amazing.”

Richards said: “It was a great win. She's going well and it's not easy to come over and be competitive against these sorts of short course (sprint) horses. But, we'd been pleased with how she'd trialled and she's obviously high-class.

“I thought it was a lovely ride by Opie (Bosson). We talked beforehand about going forward, but not necessarily that we wanted to lead. And while probably not the right way to ride her, it was the right place to be in that race. She went a nice steady tempo, quickened in well and I just loved the way he steered her out to show her the other horses to beat and she duly obliged.

“We're very proud Kiwis and we love coming over here to be competitive and representing New Zealand. It was a pretty special win to come off a decent break and she came over in really good order. 

“Special thanks to all the staff at home, at the farm and the stables, and Dad (Paul Richards) is over here with them doing a great job. Giving them so much time and the care and attention that they need, and I was up on the dais accepting the accolades on behalf of a lot of people. 

“Congratulations to Dave (Ellis) for buying her. She's just a star.”

One of three for Te Akau stabled at Randwick (Sydney), Karaka Million winner Probabeel (Savabeel) is preparing for the $1m Sires' Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) on 6 April at Randwick, after finding the line solidly for sixth over 1200m on unsuitable heavy footing last Saturday at Rosehill, and In A Twinkling (Fastnet Rock) races next Saturday in the $200,000 Tulloch Stakes (Gr. 2, 2000m) at Rosehill.

Avantage was strapped by former Te Akau apprentice Amber Edmeads.

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