Legacy continues for Te Akau as Avantaggia scores breakthrough win
Te Akau Racing enjoyed a special victory at Te Aroha on Wednesday when blue-blooded filly Avantaggia (Wootton Bassett) broke through in the Donaghys Moxipor (1150m), delivering a fitting full-circle result for New Zealand’s powerhouse stable.
By Coolmore’s star-crossed stallion Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj), Avantaggia is the first foal out of Te Akau’s former champion mare Avantage (Fastnet Rock), a nine-time Group 1 winner who was sold to Tom Magnier for a record-breaking NZ$4.1 million on Gavelhouse Plus in 2021.
Te Akau’s principal David Ellis later went to $2.1 million to secure Avantaggia, her first foal, from the Coolmore draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and the filly made an immediate impression on trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson.
After winning three trials, Avantaggia made a promising debut when finishing a determined fourth in the Maiden 3YO 1200 metres at Ellerslie on 20 September, a race won by subsequent Soliloquy Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) winner Well Written (Written Tycoon).
Drawn ideally in barrier one this time, Avantaggia was rated a leading chance, and under a composed ride from Te Akau’s stable jockey Opie Bosson, she enjoyed an economical run behind the speed. Angling through to lead at the 300 metres, she sustained a strong gallop to the line to score impressively.
“In her first start she had to work quite hard from the gate and probably used up a little too much petrol,” Bosson said.
“She bounced out of that race well and her work has been quite nice and barrier one was a big assist [today]. They were going quite quick and had her off the nickel most of the way, but she is a real professional and went through the gap as good as gold and the only thing she did wrong was look at the winning post.”
Te Akau principal David Ellis was pleased to see the filly win in what was a full-circle moment for the syndicator.
“I was very impressed with her,” Ellis told ANZ News. “I think she’s got a lot of improvement still to come. But she’s been really well educated by the team and it was great to see her win so nicely at her second start.”
Ellis wrote the opening chapter in Avantage’s remarkable story when he purchased the daughter of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) for $210,000 from The Oaks Stud draft at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale.
Bred in Southland by Willie and Karen Calder, Avantage is out of Asavant (Zabeel), a winner of the Warstep Stakes (Listed, 2000m), who also placed at Group 1 level.
The Champion Two-Year-Old of 2017/18 and winner of the Karaka Million 2YO (RL, 1200m), Avantage went on to win nine Group 1 races, more than any other Fastnet Rock, and amassed $2.1 million in prize-money for the Te Akau Avantage Syndicate.
“Her mother won a group one at 1200, 1400, 1600, and 2,000 metres, and not many mares do that,” Ellis told ANZ News. “Avantaggia probably isn’t quite as early a maturing filly as Avantage was.
“Avantage won her first start in September as a two-year-old, and she won her second start in October as a two-year-old. Then we turned her out for a spell, and she came back and won the Karaka million, and won the Sires’ Produce Group 1.”
Following her maiden success, Avantaggia will be aimed towards late-spring black-type targets.
“Definitely a stakes race next start. We’ll just see how she comes through the race and we’ll probably give her a week in the paddock and then get her ready for a nice black-type race in November,” Ellis said.
Te Akau will look to continue the momentum into Saturday, with several leading contenders across the country.
At Riccarton, the tangerine team will be represented in the War Decree Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) by well-bred colt War Of Silence, a $700,000 yearling by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) out of Group 1-winning mare Silent Sedition (War Chant). He will be joined in the race by filly Origin Of Love, also by Arrowfield’s four-time champion sire, out of Group 2-placed mare Re Edit (Camelot), who head the market at $2.15 and $3.90 respectively.
Ellis is hoping the duo will advertise their Classic potential when they tackle the Group 3 this weekend.
He said: “We’ve sent them down with the thought that if they come through this race really well, they could run in the 2,000 and the 1,000 Guineas. Mark and Sam are very happy with both of them.
“We’ve got a really nice team at Riccaton, we like going down there in the spring because the tracks are so good. Riccarton has one of the best tracks in the world. It’s got a 450-metre straight and they don’t get the rainfall that we get in the North island up here.
“So the tracks are always that much better, and the New Zealand Cup meeting that’s coming up in two weeks is one of the best meetings that we have in New Zealand. We like sending the horses down there early because they just love the track and we don’t have to run them on the soft tracks that we get in the north.
Further north at Ellerslie, Sword Of Stars will make her debut, and Ellis believes the daughter of Cambridge Stud freshman Sword Of State (Snitzel), who was also raced by Te Akau, will be a winning chance.
Purchased by Ellis for $350,000 at the 2025 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale, the filly is a half-sister to Listed scorer Angelic Miss (Savabeel).
“She will be very hard to beat. She is a very, very good horse that I bought from Windsor Park. I have bought a lot of very good horses from them over the years. I bought Sword of State himself off Sir Owen Glenn as a yearling and he beat Imperatriz. Sword Of Stars is one of the best two-year-olds we’ve got, that’s for sure.”
Across the weekend and into the summer, Te Akau’s strong juvenile team will continue to build momentum.
“We’ve got 16 two-year-olds trialling at Ellersie tomorrow [Thursday]. And we’ve got another two juveniles that are racing at Trentham on Saturday. We’ve got a Super Seth filly and a Vanbrugh gelding. They’ve both shown plenty. And we’ve got a very impressive filly that we’re getting ready for the Karaka million by Tavaci in at Riccarton on Saturday.”
Ellis said attention will soon turn to the NZB Ready to Run Sale, where a quality catalogue has been assembled.
“We’ve bought at the Ready To Run sale every year for probably the last 15 years. So we’ll be having a look for sure,” he said.
“It’s easily the best ready to run sale in the southern hemisphere and the quality of horses that I’ve seen for this year are as good as I’ve ever seen. So I’m expecting a very strong sale and a lot of very good horses will come out of it.”