Promising filly Astara gained a deserved victory at Ellerslie and in the process she credited her sire Dalghar with his first Southern Hemisphere winner.
The Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs-trained two-year-old, who produced encouraging performances at her first two starts, sat outside the leader in yesterday's Ginde Juvenile before asserting her superiority in the run home for rider Sam Collett.
A half-brother to the multiple European Group One winners Daylami and Dalakhani, Dalghar was a group two winner who stood his first season at Brighthill Farm in 2012 after a term in France. He has produced three winners from his only Northern Hemisphere crop.
"Astara has showed plenty of promise and was a good second at Te Aroha and then she was a really strong fourth in the Matamata Breeders' Stakes," Brighthill's Nick King said. "It's great to see the stallion off the mark here and we're really chuffed it's come at a Saturday meeting at Ellerslie.
"I know Donna and Chris think a fair bit of Astara and they debated whether to go to Awapuni for the group one, but there was the question of a heavy track. She's got the job done at Ellerslie and it's great for Dalghar to get on the board."
