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Ave salutes in Flower Bowl Three Chimneys Racing and Trevor Harris's AVE (GB) (Danehill Dancer) was literally battered into defeat in a rough first turn as the tepid 3-1 favorite in the August 21 Beverly D. S. (G1), but the Roger Attfield trainee gained compensation with a last-gasp victory in Saturday's $500,000 Flower Bowl Invitational S. (G1) at Belmont Park. For the loyalists who stuck with her at odds of 10-1, Ave split rivals in deep stretch and just got up to deny Changing Skies (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) by a head, paying $23, $10 and $6.10. In a race devoid of early pace, Gozzip Girl (Dynaformer) wound up going forward from her inside post and posted slow fractions of :26, :53 2/5 and 1:19 on the yielding turf course. Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect), always prominent, was lapped onto the leader's flank, and Changing Skies was likewise forwardly placed on the outside. Japanese shipper and 9-5 favorite Red Desire (Jpn) (Manhattan Cafe) hugged the hedge just behind the leader, while Ave was reserved slightly further back in the tightly-knit group. Turning for home, Changing Skies launched her challenge, and a rallying Red Desire burst through to her inside. Those two appeared set to fight out the finish, with Changing Skies holding Red Desire at bay. Then Ave suddenly arrived on the scene for Javier Castellano, slicing between the pair. Changing Skies dug down, but she could not resist the closing rush of Ave, who gained the upper hand to complete 1 1/4 soggy miles in 2:08 2/5. "It was very exciting in the end, wasn't it?" Attfield said after watching the race from Canada. "After what happened in the Beverly D., I was pleased for her. When I heard how much rain you had had down there over the past two days, I knew the course would be soft and it was obviously going to be a dawdle, but I didn't think it would bother her. I'm not sure what's next for her -- she came into this race very, very well and we'll have to see how she comes out of it and then sit down and talk to the owners." "I was pleased with the way she ran today," Castellano said. "She settled behind horses, we saved ground and I had a perfect trip all the way. I really liked what she did today (splitting) horses in between. She got it done today. She fought all the way until the end. "The ground was really soft, and my concern was that I didn't want to be too far back, and I (also) didn't want to be too close to the pace. I want to be in midpack and save all of the ground the best I can. She sat beautifully behind horses. I was worried a little bit coming for home because of the way the pace developed, and I was fortunate that my filly responded well." The 8-1 Changing Skies returned $8.90 and $5.10 for finishing three-quarters of a length ahead of Red Desire, who in turn furnished $4 to show. "The final furlong (Changing Skies) was in front every jump, except the last one where it counted," trainer Bill Mott said. Red Desire's connections were encouraged by her comeback from a layoff. "Turning for home, I didn't think I could lose," jockey Kent Desormeaux said. "I think this set her up for a monstrous effort. I can't wait to ride her back." "She did well," said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for owner Yoko Yamamoto's Tokyo Horseracing Co. Ltd. "She's been off for five months, it was soft ground, and there was no pace -- she had many things against her. It was unlucky for her to finish third, but she was brave." The exotics were worth $145 (exacta), $655 (trifecta) and $2,857 (5-3-2-8 superfecta) with Keertana (Johar) another three lengths back in fourth. Shared Account came next in fifth, 8 1/2 lengths ahead of Forever Together (Belong to Me), while tailed-off Gozzip Girl crossed the wire a long way back. Tarrip (Green Desert) was scratched. Ave's first top-level victory more than doubled her bankroll to $556,169 from her 14-5-2-3 mark. Originally based in England with Sir Michael Stoute, the bay finished second in the 2009 Lyric S. at York before breaking through with stakes scores in the Upavon Fillies S. at Salisbury and the Denny Cordell Lavarack S. (Ire-G3) at Gowran. Ave made her North American debut for Attfield in the May 15 Gallorette H. (G3), beaten just a half-length as a hard-charging third, and followed up with a third in the June 19 New York S. (G2) and a near-miss second in the July 18 Dance Smartly S. (Can-G2) at Woodbine. Her consistency earned her favoritism in the aforementioned Beverly D., where she never recovered after her troubled passage and wound up eighth. Bred by Plantation Stud in Great Britain, the four-year-old Ave is the first registered foal from the winning Anna Amalia (In the Wings [GB]), whose second foal is multiple Group 3-placed sophomore Dubawi Phantom (Dubawi). Anna Amalia is a half-sister to four European stakes performers, chief among them French Group 3 victress Anna Palariva (Ire) (Caerleon), herself the dam of current Prix de la Grotte (Fr-G3) queen and Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) runner-up Anna Salai (Dubawi), multiple Group 3-placed English stakes scorer Iguazu Falls (Pivotal) and Group 3-placed, four-time French stakes hero Advice (Seeking the Gold). Ave's second dam is English highweight older staying mare Anna of Saxony (GB) (Ela-Mana-Mou), a half-sister to French Group 2 winners Annaba (Ire) (In the Wings [GB]) and Pozarica (Rainbow Quest). This is also the family of German and Italian champion Anna Monda (Monsun). Ave's fourth dam is two-time German champion and noted matron Anna Paola (Prince Ippi).
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