Avanzare hangs on for Washington Park theft

Hattaash clung to second by a neck over 8-5 favorite Mister Marti Gras, who

was 1 1/2 lengths clear of Fordubai. Gimmeadrink and Only in America rounded out

the order of finish.

A four-year-old gelded son of Grand Reward, Avanzare races for Donato Lanni

and John Youngblood and is trained by Tom Proctor. He debuted last November and

captured his first two starts: a maiden at Churchill Downs and an allowance at

Tampa Bay Downs, both on the grass. Second in his next three outings at Tampa,

Avanzare returned to Churchill for the spring meet and promptly won both a

second- and third-level allowance over the turf.

Last time, in the July 12 Arlington Handicap, Avanzare set pedestrian

fractions before weakening to fourth, three parts of a length behind the winning

Finnegans Wake. After this initial stakes win in his debut on Polytrack,

Avanzare improved his record to 9-5-3-0, $217,180.

Bred in Kentucky by Snow Lantern Thoroughbreds, Avanzare was reared Turn the

Tide, an unraced daughter of Theatrical. His third dam, the Grade 3-winning Miss

Turkana, was produced by the Grade 3-winning Reigning Countess, whose

descendants also include German highweight Mamool and the Grade/Group 3 winners

Aly's Alley, Grafin, Genovefa, and Zosima.

Avanzare sold for $52,000 as an OBS two-year-old in training.

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