A nine time winner at Group 1 level, Avantage has now become a record breaker after being sold at online auction for NZ$4.1m to racing powerhouse Coolmore.
It took a while for things to heat up at the auction with a back and forth bidding war escalated via Gavelhouse Plus seeing the Te Akau racing star’s price explode in the final 20 minutes of betting.
That late period saw Avantages price skyrocket by nearly $2.5m to reach the $4.1m final sale price.
Coolmore’s Tom Magnier was the eventual victor and buyer after his record breaking bid was enough to win the auction and services of the valuable daughter of Fastnet Rock out of Group One performer Asavant
The final sale price was enough to eclipse the previous record price at digital sale, which had only been set a few months earlier when Chris Waller trained Funstar went for NZ$2.79m at digital sale in July.
Taking a broader look at the sale price, when the transaction finally takes place it will make Avantage the third highest priced mare of all time in the Southern Hemisphere.
It’s another big sale result for Te Akau, who had stablemate Melody Belle go under the hammer earlier this year at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale for AU$2.6m (NZ$2.69m).
It's been a quick turnaround for the NZ Racing powerhouse after Avantage was forced into early retirement after injury only a few weeks ago.