Fastnet Rock mare lands El Cheapo Cars at Otaki

Avantage (Fastnet Rock) continued her march into the realms of super stardom when she made it career Group 1 number eight with a gritty win in the El Cheapo Cars Classic (Gr 1, 1600m) at Otaki.

Unbeaten in three starts, all at Group 1 level, in her current campaign, Avantage was confidently expected to take Otaki’s elite feature on Saturday to make it four in a row and she duly obliged under a confident ride from Opie Bosson.

Bosson had the Fastnet Rock (Danehill) mare positioned perfectly outside the pacemaker Deerfield (New Approach) throughout before issuing a confident challenge at the 300 metre mark. 

Kept up to her work by Bosson, Avantage held out a gallant late bid from Callsign Mav (Atlante), who had tracked all the way and took the victory by half a length with Travelling Light (El Roca) showing her best form of late with a nice run into third.

“The plan was to go forward and ride her positively early,” Bosson said.

“We got into a little bit of trouble when Deerfield came across us, but she came back off him, relaxed nicely and did everything right.

“I could see him (Callsign Mav) out of the corner of my eye, but once I gave her a few backhanders she put her head out and had a crack.

“That just shows you how good a racehorse she is, she just loves it.”

With trainer Jamie Richards busy back on his home track at Matamata, it was left to his father Paul to travel with the mare to Otaki and he was thrilled with the result.

“Halfway down the straight she had a fight on her hands and she found plenty,” he said.

“She is an amazing athlete who has been doing this since she was a two-year-old and there is still plenty ahead of her.

“She will travel home and the team will look after her, but I think at this stage her next target could be the Bonecrusher Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m) at Ellerslie.”

Jamie Richards confirmed that the Bonecrusher Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Ellerslie on March 13 would be the next race on the card for Avantage provided she progressed well from her efforts at Otaki. He also confirmed that a potential trip to Australia later in the autumn was also being considered although no definite arrangements had been made as yet. 

The daughter of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) was purchased for NZ$210,000 by David Ellis at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karka and she is out of Listed winner Asavant (Zabeel). 

Asavant herself is a daughter of Group 3 winner Pins ‘N’ Needles (Pins), making her a half-sister to Group 1 winner D B Pin (Darci Brahma).