Regally-bred filly Avantaggia closed out her season in winning fashion at Ellerslie on Monday when taking out the ANZAC Day 3YO (1200m), her second win in succession.
A daughter of Wootton Bassett and Te Akau Racing’s former nine-time Group One winner Avantage, Avantaggia has taken longer than desired to mature, but she is now coming into her own, having now won three of her six starts this season.
A last start winner over 1200m at Otaki, the Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained filly was one of several unlucky three-year-olds not to make last Saturday’s Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) field, which was taken out by stablemate Drops Of God, but found a suitable Plan B in Monday’s three-year-old feature.
Jumping from the outside barrier in the 12-horse field, jockey Craig Grylls eased his filly back to settle towards the rear of the field before hopping into the three-wide train with 700m to go. Avantaggia was the widest runner turning for home and had a bit to do, but she quickly descended on her rivals, capturing the lead with 200m to go and extended her advantage with every bound, running out a 1-1/2 length victor.
“From the outside gate I got the best possible run I could,” Grylls said. “We were in the three wide train with cover, she has idled into it, and she really let rip once she balanced up. She is a really nice filly.
“There is a bit of hype around her with her breeding and she is an exciting one to follow.”
Assistant trainer Reece Trumper was pleased to see her repay the patience of her owners and finish her three-year-old season with a win.
“It worked out well from the wide draw,” he said. “They were always going to go hard, she sat off a good tempo and when she got to the outside she still had to put them away, but she did it pretty comfortably.
“We had a lot of immaturity problems with her early doors, but she has just got better and better. She started in that Well Written maiden at the start of the season, which is probably the best maiden race in New Zealand. She is going the right way.
“She will head for a break now and she will get ready for her four-year-old season. It is good that she has won three races this season.”
Purchased by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis from the Coolmore draft for A$2.1 million at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Avantaggia has now won three of her six starts and has earned more than $53,000 in prizemoney.
Her win rounded out a lucrative long weekend for Te Akau Racing, who recorded two stakes wins in New Zealand on Saturday courtesy of Drops Of God in the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and Perlino in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m), before Cranbourne representative Geegees Mistruth took out the Gr.1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville.
Qali Al Farrasha and Wonderful Sky were also runner-up in the Gr.2 Travis Stakes (2000m) and Gr.3 Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) respectively, while the stable recorded three other wins over the weekend, including Talisker and System Of Play on the undercard at Te Rapa on Saturday and Sabatini earlier on the card at Ellerslie on Monday. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
