Game, Set, Avantage

The Informant reports:

Australian-bred two-year-olds regularly star in New Zealand juvenile races, and New Zealand buyers/trainers are not slow to realise this.

Certainly the David Ellis/Te Akau combination, for all their invaluable contribution over many years buying New Zealand-breds at our sales, have not been slow to pick up Australian-breds across the Tasman and here at Karaka - with, perhaps, more than half a wink at winning the Karaka Million!

It was with a bid of $210,000 at Karaka early last year that Ellis took home the bay filly by Australian super sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill) from the Zabeel mare Asavant, and that, even then, looked to be an extremely good buy given her appearance and antecedents.

One might surmise that AVANTAGE was such an excellent purchase as her female pedigree on the catalogue page was wholly Kiwi and might not have held major appeal to buyers from over the water. Early in her career connections reportedly rejected an offer of three and a half times her purchase price. She rates a whole lot more now.

Trained by those excellent practitioners Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards, she was a little green early on and was dispatched to the South Island, where she won her 800-metre trial at Riccarton in September. Over the same course and distance either end of October, she won her first two starts easily in five-horse fields.

Avantage then came back to Matamata to be aimed at the Karaka Million, the equal richest race in this country. She had been unraced for 11 weeks when she resumed for Opie Bosson in a 1200-metre race at Ellerslie over the Million course and distance, where the seven runners were seeking to ensure Million starts. She missed the kick, but got handy enough to be able to mount her bid 250 metres out and hold on to win after a good tussle with Spanish Whisper and stablemate Pinot Grey.

Her previous starts had only been against a total of 14 others, but for the Karaka Million there were 14 starters. She must have given Bosson an extremely good feel, as he made a tremendous effort to get down to the carded weight of 54.5 kilograms and this was rewarded in spades.

This time she began well and was able to sit in a handy position just behind the leading pair, and after a short battle with Bocce in the straight, she took the prize by three-quarters of a length from late-charging stable companion Al Hasa, who took second off Bocce on the line.

Avantage holds an engagement in the Gr. 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes, but will also be nominated for the Gr. 1 Sistema (Diamond) Stakes three weeks beforehand.

Avantage's sire is the champion three-year-old and champion sprinter Fastnet Rock, who won the Gr. 1 Lightning Stakes and Oakleigh Plate, and who has twice been champion Australian sire and champion on worldwide earnings twice as well. He has also been second and third to Galileo on the Irish sires list for the past two years.

Fastnet Rock's current tally of 129 stakes winners (32 Group One) includes such stars as Atlantic Jewel, Mosheen, Sea Siren, Fascinating Rock, First Seal, Merchant Navy, Qualify, Heroic Valour, Rock 'n' Pop and ill-fated Atlante. His sons like Hinchinbrook, Smart Missile, Highly Recommended and Foxwedge are already starting to fire as sires, and his future in that role too seems to be assured.

Fastnet Rock is already starting to underline his potential as a broodmare sire, with his daughters having 12 stakes winners including the Group One winners Tivaci and Santa Ana Lane.

The damsire Zabeel, incredibly, is posthumously producing stakes winners with a current tally of 166. As a damsire he is no less impressive with 184 stakes winners from his daughters, 35 of them at elite level including such as Dundeel, Darci Brahma, Ocean Park, Silent Achiever, Werther, Atlantic Jewel, Samantha Miss, Bonneval, Humidor, Xtravagant and  Tarzino - all multiple Group One winners.

Zabeel is, of course, a multi-champion sire in all spheres and is currently leading O'Reilly in a bid to reclaim his title on the New Zealand broodmare sires list, having been champion the previous season, and he also sits in second place in Australia to Encosta de Lago.

The sire of the granddam is Pins, who is still going strong at Waikato Stud with 75 stakes winners including such stars as El Segundo, Aerovelocity, Katie Lee, Legs and Ambitious Dragon. His daughters have 28 stakes winners including Stratum Star, Brambles and D B Pin. Pins has been twice champion New Zealand sire on worldwide earnings.

The next sire along the dam line is another Waikato stalwart, Centaine, who has been Dewar Trophy winner for combined Australasian earnings, twice champion sire of two-year-olds and six times champion sire of broodmares, with his daughters' many stakes winners including such as Jimmy Choux, Alamosa, Giovana and Mongolian Khan.

The female line is that of the 27 family, although not of the better known Fireside line. She goes back to the Persimmon (St. Simon) mare Perotina, who was imported to New Zealand in the very early 1900s. The line comes forward through Martia, who is very closely bred to St. Simon and his own sister Angelica to Evasion, and thence on to Cloud Song, the seventh dam of the star two-year-old. Cloud Song is balanced inbred to St. Simon and his sister - never a bad engine room to have.

Cloud Song's four foals all won including Kinsimm, by Callander (Nasrullah), who won 13 times to just past a mile and left five winners, but it was her unplaced Avocat General daughter Storm Cloud who made an impact at stud with seven winners including that doughty customer McCloud, with seven wins to 2000 metres and five stakes placings including the Gr. 1 Wellington Cup and Gr. 2 Waikato International Stakes.

Again it was the non-performed daughter Storm Force, by the great sire of stayers Zamazaan, who proved best of several successful broodmare daughters and she became fourth dam of Avantage. She left five winners including the Matamata Cup and Levin Winter Cup winner Force the Pace (Red Tempo) and the smart stakes-placed sprinter-miler Raining (Centaine), who was third in the Newmarket Handicap and fourth in the Rotorua Stakes.

Raining, third dam of the Million victress, proved to be an excellent matron with seven winners, of which three won stakes - Miss Alice (Canterbury Breeders' Stakes) and her sister Pins 'n' Needles (also a stakes-placed brother Johnny Jones) and Coup Fieldes (Canterbury Stakes). She also left Zenda, the dam of King Saul (Gr. 2 Western Australian Guineas; 3rd Gr. 1 Kingston Town Classic).

Pins 'n' Needles went on to leave three winners, two in stakes - Asavant and the ace Hong Kong sprinter D B Pin (Darci Brahma), whose six victories so far include the Gr. 1 HKJC Centenary Sprint Cup and Group placings including second in the Gr. 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint.

The Zabeel mare Asavant scored three times at 2000 and 2100 metres including the Warstep Stakes and WRC Wellington Cup Prelude, and she was second in the New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Stakes and third in the Gr. 1 Waikato International Stakes.

Her first two foals are both winners including Avantage, and she looks set fair to become a very significant matron with daughters of So You Think and Vancouver set to follow on, while the mare is in foal to Fastnet Rock again.

Danehill has been a sensational sire, as we know, and Fastnet Rock must be rated one of his best sire sons. He is bred on a fairly simple pair of major nicks and is balanced inbred 4/4 x 4 to Natalma as well as having a wide spread of balanced crosses to Nearco, Hyperion, Mahmoud, Menow, Bull Dog and Sir Gallahad. His patterns are Northern Dancer - Ribot/Northern Dancer - Sir Tristram (Sir Ivor) - Klairon.

On the distaff side the damsire is Zabeel (Sir Tristram), who provides the same Northern Dancer cross to the above in altered positions although all are male.   Sir Tristram also brings in two lines of the mare Lavendula one through My Babu.   The bottom quarter of Avantage's chart has Pins 'n' Needles balanced to Nasrullah, Nearco and Hyperion and she is constructed on a Lunchtime-Star Kingdom/My Babu cross. Asavant is balanced to My Babu, Hyperion, Nasrullah and Nearco.

Avantage is sex-balanced inbred through males only to Sir Tristram (5 x 3) and Northern Dancer (4/5 x 5/7) and line-bred to Natalma (5 lines), Mahmoud (8), My Babu (3), Hyperion (13), Nearco (17), Sir Gallahad (4), Teddy (8), Tracery (10+) and Man o'War (4).

One is usually tempted to think that very smart juveniles, especially fillies, have a limited career beyond their first season. The Te Akau team have been very careful with their star and this encourages the belief that she will have a lucrative three-year-old career.

Avantage's pedigree is not one of a very precocious two-year-old, but one that suggests a mile or more might suit her very well. Her dam stayed extra well, while her sire, like his own sire, has proved his versatility when crossed with stout mares. I would hope she is limited to one more run this season in Group Ones at Ellerslie or maybe Awapuni.