It is a fact that progeny and performance are two unrelated entities. We saw in the case of   Purita and her dam Pashmina, that they were both non-winners, yet they produced champion stuff.

Avola was another mare, who was not only a non-winner - but totally unraced, who produced a string of successful progeny. Though unraced herself, she had a powerful dam in Annabel – another Italian mare. Annabel won three races in Italy and was the dam of three winners – Alemeria (4 wins), Acireale (3 wins) and Alcazar (3 wins). Avola too produced a winner in Italy before making her way to this country. Avignone was the filly which won three races in Italy.

Avola's success story in India was highlighted by the Calcutta based pair of The Advisor and Mandrake. The former finished third in the Calcutta Derby but showed his staying prowess by picking up the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Mandrake won seven races in all including the Sholay Cup and Wiseman Cup.

But Avola's production chart peaked, the day she gave birth to a colt called Astonish. He turned out to be an absolute stunner. He won the Pune Derby and the Indian Triple Crown.

The Malvado colt produced a gem of a run in the Indian Derby to peg back the runaway La Bonne Vie in the last stride. The latter, a 50/1 shot, was piloted by the legendary Willie Carson, while Astonish had the likes of our very own Aslam Kader to guide his fortunes.

As the gates opened, Carson and the filly came out like a scalded cat and continued to set the pace till the bend. Just when the 'knowledgeable' ones thought that La Bonne Vie would shorten her strides, she kicked on merrily. Meanwhile, Kader had gradually improved his mount to breathe down the pace-setter's neck at the turning for home.

Astonish engaged La Bonne Vie in a 'do-or-die' battle all the way down the straight to prevail by the proverbial whisker at the all-important end.

After reaching the zenith of her career as a broodmare with Astonish, Avola went on to produce a few more winners in the form of Antares, Navratilova and Legend of Glory. But none could live up to Astonish's high standards.