Te Akau’s young talent scoops Group One pool
Te Akau’s dominant season with their twoyear-olds continued at Awapuni where Avantage completed a coveted Group One double for the operation.
She bowed to stablemate Sword Of Osman when runner-up in the Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie recently, but on Saturday the Fastnet Rock filly produced a stunning performance to blitz her rivals in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).
The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained Avantage had also led home a stable quinella in January’s Karaka Million (1200m) when she beat Al Hasa, an earlier runaway winner of the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m).
‘‘She’s got some value now, bring on the 1000 Guineas in the spring,’’ Richards said.
Rider Danielle Johnson was able to position Avantage one off the fence in fifth spot before pouncing 250m from home and then dashed away to account for Melt, who chased gamely, and Sir Nate who came from the back of the field for third.
Sword Of Osman went forward from a wide gate to dispute the pace one off the fence and he wilted to fourth under Troy Harris, who replaced an overweight Opie Bosson.
‘‘She’s a super filly and she was given a super ride,’’ Richards said. ‘‘Her work since Ellerslie had been pleasing, she trained on beautifully.’’
Avantage has now won five of her six starts and this latest victory should assure her of champion juvenile honours.
‘‘She was very impressive, it’s a huge thrill,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘From the wide gate I got a nice run with the pace on all the way. I had a lot of horse underneath me and it was just a case of when to push the button.’’
Our Abbadean completed a stellar black type day at Awapuni for her trainers and jockey with the first stakes victory of her career. The Autridge-richards-prepared five-year-old was a dashing winner of the Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2000m) in the hands of Johnson.
The Cambridge-based jockey had earlier claimed the feature race on stablemate Avantage and in between times guided Magnum to win in the Listed Flying Handicap (1400m).
Johnson subsequently added the Premier (1550m) aboard Dream Dancer to give trainer Chris Bothwell his first training success in his own right. ‘‘It’s been a really good day for all of us,’’ Richards said.