Continuing his spending spree at Magic Millions’ Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis dug deep into his pockets on the third day of the sale to secure a filly close to his heart.

Out of Te Akau’s nine-time Group One winner Avantage, lot 454 was already a sentimental favourite for Ellis, which was further enhanced upon inspecting the daughter of Wootton Bassett, and he went to A$2.1 million to secure her out of Coolmore Stud’s draft.t

It was the same value Avantage earned in prizemoney for the Te Akau Avantage Syndicate before she was sold for an online world-record of $4.1 million when bought by Coolmore Australia off Gavelhouse.com following her raceday retirement.

Ellis was delighted to secure the filly out of a mare he purchased for $210,000 as a yearling, and he is hoping she can replicate the deeds of her dam for Te Akau Racing.

“The filly is a magnificent first foal from a mare that we experienced so much success with,” Ellis said.

“She has great flow about her, scope, great head and eye, and an enormous amount of substance.

“Avantage was a unique mare with an outstanding will to win and this filly is very similar in her action and attitude.

“It was very emotional being able to secure the filly and we could not be happier with her.”

Senior Coolmore manager Colm Santry was delighted with the result and said it was fitting that Avantage’s first foal was bought by Ellis.

“She was an amazing race mare, Avantage, one of the best Te Akau has ever had, and very special for David (Ellis) to have bought her first foal,” he said.

“There was serious interest in her all week, in a way she exceeded our expectations in the sales ring but there was huge interest in her and she sold accordingly.

“Avantage was a fabulous mare, we love Fastnet Rock, and we charged in for an awful lot of money ($4.1m) to buy her off the syndicate that owned her. She has an amazingly well-structured pedigree, Fastnet Rock, we all know how good Zabeel is, and Pins under that again.

“This filly is such a good investment and these types of fillies are investments for life. Her mother was obviously very good-looking and Fastnet Rock mares tend to get very good first foals, generally speaking. He puts a lot of size and scope and strength into them.

“And Wootton Bassett, he’s a proven stallion and it’s all ahead for him and all about the future for us at Coolmore.

“He’s done very well with Almanzor in New Zealand (at Cambridge Stud), so they know the blood over there.

“We loved watching Avantage racing. She was an amazing mare, competitive every time she went to the races, and it’s fantastic that we were able to sell her first foal and see her back in the tangerine (colours).

“He’s a powerhouse for the New Zealand industry, David (Ellis). He’s going to get behind their (Te Akau) new stable in Melbourne and do everything they can to make it another leading stable in the future.

“It’s exciting for David, for New Zealand, and all his partners that support him.”