AVONE RETURNS TO ACTION WITH A FLUENT WIN

By Graham Potter | Thursday, November 23, 2023

It’s been relatively slow progress for the three-year-old Spirit Of Boom filly Avone, but the important point is that you can highlight the word ‘progress’ in that description as the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained filly claimed her second win from only four starts when she proved too strong for her rivals in an 800m dash in a BM60 Handicap at Ipswich on November 23.

And it would be fair to suggest this latest win will have brought her on even further.

Avone raced three times as a two-year-old, finishing second on debut over 1100m at Ipswich on April 19 before shedding her maiden ticket with a win nine days later over the same track and distance.

The early potential shown in those two runs prompted the Sears camp to test Avone’s in feature race company in the city during the Winter Carnival, where she finished unplaced in the Listed Bill Carter behind the likes of the Waterhouse/Bott trained Zia (who was unbeaten at the time with two wins from two starts) and the Robert Heathcote trained Abounding (who had finished second in the Group 3 Ken Russell the race before).

Avone then went to the paddock before returning for this first-up assignment on November 23 ... meaning she had been away from race action for six-and-a-half months.

There were no cobwebs there though as Avone (the $3.20 second favourite) landed in the leading line under Emily Lang, in what was a pretty hectic start, and continued to hold her position in an intimidating charge to the home turn as she had horses pressuring her on either side.

When Avone was slightly wayward on the turn due to greenness, the $9 chance Find Your Own slipped into a clear lead early in the straight, but that advantage was short-lived once Lang got Avone balanced and put her foot on the accelerator, from which moment Avone took the race by the scruff of the neck and shook all of danger out of anyone trying to challenge to her superiority.

Already in front by the 200m mark, the ‘race over’ signs went up early as Avone put her second win on the board, finishing 1.30 lengths ahead of the second placed runner ... and just under four lengths clear of third place to rubber-stamp an emphatic performance.

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