Avantage to Te Akau After Fastnet Rock Mare Lands Telegraph | 2 | Sunday, January 19, 2020
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Sunday, January 19, 2020 | Dedicated to the Australasian bloodstock industry - subscribe for free: Click here DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX EVERY MORNING Avantage to Te Akau Read Tomorrow's Issue For: after Fastnet Rock mare The Week Ahead What's on Race meetings: Cowra (NSW), lands Telegraph Muswellbrook (NSW), Werribee (VIC), Australia beckons for dual Group 1 winner Stony Creek (VIC), Sunshine Coast (QLD), Mount Barker (WA), Te Rapa (NZ) after returning to best form at Trentham International meetings: Sha Tin (HK) International Group races: Sha Tin (HK) LATEST NEWS FROM THE WEEKEND'S RACING - Stewards’ Cup (Gr 1, 1600m), Centenary Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 1200m) RACING NEWS Family affair for McKays in Thorndon Mile The Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) victory by an Avantage (nearside) GETTY IMAGES underrated The Mitigator (Master Of Design) helped deliver an emotional win for trainer the Telegraph (Gr 1, 1200m) at Trentham Peter McKay and his jockey son Shaun in one of BY TIM ROWE | @ANZ_NEWS yesterday. the two Group 1 features at Trentham yesterday. amie Richards and Te Akau Racing A star juvenile who won the rich Karaka 2YO The five-year-old, the third winner of the have some “unfinished business” Million (RL, 1200m) and Manawatu Sires’ Produce race for McKay senior, who also took it out with top-class mare Avantage Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in her first season of racing, with Alamosa (O’Reilly) in 2008 and Puccini (Fastnet Rock), with the trainer Avantage was a dual Group 3 winner at three before (Encosta De Lago) in 2015, caused an upset Jplotting a return to Australia after the two below-par performances in Sydney during the in the NZ$200,000 race when holding off four-year-old returned to her best form in spring. Continued on page 2>> the challenge of Captain Cook Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Wyndspelle (Iffraaj) by a YESTERDAY'S STAKES RESULTS FROM | TRENTHAM | PAGE 13 short-head. Racing News page 4 >> Follow us @anz_news: click here | 1 | Brought to you by Avantage to Te Akau after Fastnet Rock mare lands Telegraph | 2 | Sunday, January 19, 2020 << Continued from page 1 Richards regrouped, brought Bosson’s confidence grew about Avantage’s chances after her back to New Zealand and the Fastnet Rock (Danehill) mare galloping her on Tuesday with stablemate Festivity (I Am Invincible), confirmed she was back to her best with a strong closing second in who was a dominant winner at Trentham earlier in the day. the Hallmark Stud Handicap (Listed, 1200m) at Ellerslie on Boxing The jockey said barrier 13 could have caused some headaches Day. for both himself and Avantage, but in the end she proved superior “She’s a proper good horse,” Richards said after the Telegraph. to her rivals. “We made a mistake taking her to Sydney in the spring when “Jamie and the whole team had her spot on for today,” Bosson things didn’t go our way at Ruakaka. said. “I’m glad that we can repay the owners’ faith and get a good “I had no plan really (from the barrier) as Jamie had said ‘just Group 1 with her. don’t be last’. I ended up getting quite a nice run with cover although “She’s all class and is just a real racehorse. She’s so strong, built she wobbled around a bit over the junction. like a colt and is incredibly hard to handle. “It didn’t matter though as she always had them covered; she’s “It’s a great thrill for everybody involved as Dave (Ellis, Te Akau a little sweetheart.” principal) tries to buy the best horses that we can for our owners. Richards described Bosson’s Telegraph ride as “ten out of ten”. To get these results a week out from the sale is really important for “He is a real confidence man and when he is in the zone, he is the whole business.” very hard to get past,” the trainer said. Ridden by Opie Bosson, Avantage defeated Enzo’s Lad (Testa “We had a bit of bad luck and didn’t front up with Melody Belle Rossa), winner of the last two renewals of the Telegraph, by a short- so to come back here and do the job was very important. neck, with Spring Heat (More Than Ready) a further two and three “We’ll go home now and have a think about what’s next but we quarter lengths away in third. would like to go back to Australia and try and show her off over Australian mare Winter Bride (Not A SIngle Doubt), who was there as we have a bit of unfinished business from the spring.” runner-up in the Sistema Railway (Gr 1, 1200m) at Ellerslie on New Ellis reaffirmed his desire to see Avantage race on as a five-year- Year’s Day, finished fifth with jockey Ryan Maloney in the saddle. old. Continued on page 4>> ANZ – export as HiRes PDF, no crops/bleeds THE MITIGATOR (Master Of Design-Charming Ruby) NZ WRC THORNDON MILE G1 $75,000 GOLD COAST YEARLING SALE Owners: R P Davis, T E Luke, N Butterfield, P T Fenwick, J P Hopkins, M F Jones, C G King, T J Perry, S G Phillip, G N Russell, C H Thiele & J H Veale Vendor: Amarina Farm | Purchaser: Trent Busuttin Trainer: Peter McKay CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL CONNECTIONS www.magicmillions.com.au Follow us @anz_news: click here | 2 | Brought to you by THE AUSTRALIAN “AVANTAGE” First came an Australian-bred trifecta in the Group One Telegraph Handicap, led by AVANTAGE and completed by ENZO’S LAD and SPRING HEAT. Then THE MITIGATOR needed no excuse in the Group One Thorndon Mile as Aussie horses dominated on one of New Zealand’s biggest race days. It pays to buy Australian. Aushorse.com.au Family affair for McKays in Thorndon Mile | 4 | Sunday, January 19, 2020 << Continued from page 2 “She hasn’t had a lot of racing and I think, with her pedigree, that she’s going to get better next season over 1400 and 1600 metres,” Ellis said. “She’s an incredibly talented racehorse and I’m thrilled for Willie and Karen Calder who bred her. They always have a horse with Te Akau, very supportive, fantastic people and great breeders and very good friends of Karyn and mine.” Avantage (4 m Fastnet Rock - Asavant by Zabeel), a NZ$210,000 purchase by Ellis at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale, has been a terrific money spinner for connections, with her eight wins and four placings returning NZ$1.169 million in prize-money so far. Avantage is the best-performed of two foals to race for Asavant, who is a half-sister to Hong Kong Group 1-winning The Mitigator (farside) GETTY IMAGES sprinter D B Pin (Pins) and a three-quarter sister to Zenda, the dam of Western Australian Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m) winner King “Dad’s an awesome trainer, and it means a lot to win a Group 1 Saul (Flying Pegasus). race for him.” Asavant, who is owned by Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock, has The Mitigator won the Eagle Technology Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) at a yearling sister to Avantage and was covered again last September Ellerslie in November before unplaced runs in the Cambridge Stud by Fastnet Rock (Danehill) after missing to Merchant Navy (Fastnet Zabeel Classic (Gr 1, 2000m) and in an Open Handicap (1400m) at Rock) in 2018. Awapuni on January 4 when fourth. “It was a very good ride today on a good horse. When he had a Family affair for McKays in Thorndon Mile look over his shoulder, I thought he must have been pretty confident, The Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) victory by an underrated The but it’s a long way down that straight,” Peter McKay said. Mitigator (Master Of Design) helped deliver an emotional win for “It’s great for Shaun, and also my wife Kim, who’s there every trainer Peter McKay and his jockey son Shaun in one of the two morning and puts a lot of work in. It’s a real family unit and on days Group 1 features at Trentham yesterday. like this, all of that work we do pays off.” The five-year-old, the third winner of the race for McKay senior, The trainer was also thrilled to see The Mitigator rewarded for who also took it out with Alamosa (O’Reilly) in 2008 and Puccini his consistency with a win at the highest level. (Encosta De Lago) in 2015, caused an upset in the NZ$200,000 race “He tries so hard every time. We tried to ride him back in his when holding off the challenge of Captain Cook Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) last start, which was just a waste of time, and he had thumps in the winner Wyndspelle (Iffraaj) by a short-head. Yearn (Savabeel) was a Zabeel Classic,” he said. further long-neck away in third. “When he won at Ellerslie before that, he ran a great time (1:33.18 Shaun McKay, 23, described winning the Thorndon Mile on his seconds). We just decided to let him run his own race today. father’s horse as “awesome”. “I’m thrilled for the owners, who are a great bunch. Racing “I’m speechless and over the moon. To win a Group 1 race has needs more people like them, they just love the game. I think they’re been a dream, and to do it for my family is even better,” he said.