Caravaggio’s Agartha Wins G3 Silver Flash

It was a second stakes winner and first graded stakes winner for leading freshman sire Caravaggio on Thursday when Agartha (2f Caravaggio x Anya Tara, by Dylan Thomas) put on a show in the Group III Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown.

It was a maiden-breaking victory for the Annemarie O’Brien-homebred, who had finished in the top three in all four of her previous runs.

The filly beat everyone out of the gate over the seven furlongs on the Irish turf and she quickly opened up over a length on the field. The Joseph O’Brien trainee was asked for a bit more in the stretch and quickly responded.

No one was able to get close to her with the runner-up 2¾ lengths back and Gleneagles’ Seisai half a length behind that runner in third.

“We've always thought a lot of her and she's been running very well,” Joseph O’Brien told Irishracing.com .“Today we said we'd let her bowl along and she loved it. Maybe we were restricting her a bit much. When we let her bowl along today she really got into a great rhythm and galloped. They didn't let her go, they followed her along all the way, she's a good filly.”

O’Brien indicated the Group II Debutante Stakes would likely be next for the filly.

Agartha is the first foal out of stakes winner Arya Tara, who is one of three winners for her winning dam Anadiyla. Anadiyla is a half-sister to Group I winner Astarbad and to the dam of champion Azamour with Australian champion The Autumn Sun also from that branch of the family.

Caravaggio leads all North American freshmen by winners with 10 and is one of only two North American freshmen to sire a graded stakes winner alongside his studmate Practical Joke.

Caravaggio also leads all North American freshmen with four stakes performers and two graded stakes performers as well.