From humble beginnings, comes the rise and rise of Per Incanto

Cover image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock

Little Avondale Stud’s Per Incanto (USA) has had a stellar few weeks; in the last fortnight alone, he has posted a new Group 1 winner with Jimmysstar (NZ), and his 33rd stakes winner with Marble Arch (NZ). This Saturday, he has the top seed in the inaugural NZ$3.5 million New Zealand Bloodstock Kiwi, and daughter Belclare (NZ) attempts to win a third G1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes, a feat that’s never been achieved before.

New Zealand’s quiet achiever is in the best form of his life, but Little Avondale’s Studmaster Sam Williams - who runs the Masterton operation with wife Catriona - believes the best is yet to come for the rising 22-year-old. His first crop of yearlings born off of a career high fee of NZ$50,000 plus GST hit the sales ring this year and he was joined at stud by G1 Blue Diamond Stakes-winning son Little Brose in the spring. Williams took The Thoroughbred Report back to a misty morning at Dalham Hall Stud in England in 2011 to where it all began.

Written all over his face

The Little Avondale Stud team had already been shopping for a stallion and had turned their focus to the Northern Hemisphere. They had already planned to make the trip when Williams was contacted by Shadwell’s Angus Gold, who had a horse he just had to see.

“(Gold) rang and he said, ‘I hear you guys are after a stallion’,” Williams recalled. “He said, ‘look, I think this horse would really suit. He's a stunning looking horse. He's a very fast horse. And if you're coming up, you should look at him’.”

On arrival in England, Williams viewed a number of stallion prospects with the assistance of bloodstock agent Bruce Perry, and he was immediately struck by a dark bay son of Street Cry (Ire), who raced from his juvenile season to being a 5-year-old. A winner of six races including the G3 Premio Tudini in Italy, Per Incanto had a captivating presence about him.

“As soon as he came out of his box, we were both taken by him,” Williams said. “And I made it a point not to look at Bruce (Perry) because I knew that the expression on my face would give it away, so I just didn't look at him.

“Afterwards, I said to Bruce, 'I don't think we want to go anywhere until we secure this horse’.”

A deal was swiftly completed, with Shadwell staying in the stallion for the duration of their presence in the Southern Hemisphere. Per Incanto arrived in New Zealand in time for the 2011 breeding season and was posted at a modest fee of NZ$4000 plus GST. Williams noted he was very fertile and very popular, with his first book resulting in 105 live foals.

“He had these strong, dark brown horses,” Williams said of Per Incanto’s first crop. “And they were just imposing, good looking, really strong caliber, clean skinned foals. All of them had these very attractive hips and this very athletic walk to them.”

The investment by the Williamses was off to a good start.

Yearlings made for the sales ring

Mark Chitty, proprietor of Haunui Farm, shone a light on the quality of Per Incanto’s first crop, who hit the sales ring in 2014, and Williams remembered his words well; “He could leave a real sale yearling type. They’re attractive horses, and they could really move. (They have) good muscle, great hindquarters.

“But these things also had fluency when they moved as yearlings, and that got them off to a really good start.”

Williams sent four yearlings to the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale - which ran before the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at the time - in the draft of Sledmere Stud, and was instantly rewarded. For three or more yearlings sold, Per Incanto sat just behind Arrowfield Stud’s Not A Single Doubt by average purchase price; a huge feat for a horse standing for four figures, versus Not A Single Doubt’s 2021 fee of $24,750 inc GST.

“Everyone was talking about him,” Williams recalled. “He was a real buzz when we got to Karaka. He’d set the tone at Sydney, and people were excited to see his offspring.”

Rightly so; Per Incanto swept the 2-year-old premiership in New Zealand the next year, and uniquely achieved it off of his sheer number of wins. His first crop of foals would ultimately yield eight stakes winners, led by the G1 Thorndon Mile Shadows Cast (NZ), who won 12 races in all, and G1 Diamond Stakes winner Dal Cielo (NZ), who competed on both sides of the Tasman.

Gallery: Group 1 winners from Per Incanto's (USA) first crop

“I think it (going to Classic) was one of the marketing strategies that really gave us a good start to his career in the sale ring. It really kick-started him, and there was a real hype around him.”

It led to a well justified fee rise to NZ$10,000 plus GST in his fifth year - if he could produce those performers off of such a low fee, what could he achieve when the quality of his book increased?

Achievers at the highest level

Per Incanto’s daughter Roch ‘N’ Horse (NZ) holds a special place in Williams’ heart; the rising 9-year-old was born and bred at Little Avondale Stud, and took the Williamses on the ride of their lives when crossing the Tasman to compete amongst Australia’s elite sprinters.

“We bred her, we raced her, she gave us that thrill with Mike Moroney and the Ballymore team when taking out the Newmarket Handicap,” he said. “And then coming back across to take out the Darley Sprint Classic three starts later was incredible. She had five starts down the Flemington straight for two wins and two seconds.

“She was able to compete with Australia’s best. A lot of New Zealand stallions make mile, mile-and-a-half horses, whereas Per Incanto has made more sprinters. Not a lot of New Zealand stallions have been able to do that as consistently as him.

“Roch ‘N’ Horse has been his most exciting so far, and we’re hoping her progeny down the track can give us the same joy and satisfaction.”

Williams was quick to reference how well his stallion has been performing as a broodmare sire, particularly from mares bred off his early modest fees; “he’s doing an incredible job. From 71 runners, he has 45 winners and seven stakes winners.”

The most prominent of those to date is Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress), who continues to cement himself at the top of Hong Kong racing. His dam Missy Moo (NZ) was a product of Per Incanto’s first crop - proving the best is certainly still to come.

Another excitement for Little Avondale has been the homecoming of Little Brose, who took up stud duties in the spring, and offers another way to access Per Incanto’s bloodlines.

“He (Little Brose) is letting down into a really magnificent horse,” Williams said. “There are so many pictures of him that resemble his father. On the racetrack, he was fast, just like his father - and his father was very fast.

“He was an incredibly precocious 2-year-old. To come out and win the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes over Champion Colt Cylinder, before Christmas, that was special.”

Little Brose’s versatility across his racing and his ability to launch from the rear of the field are some of the features Williams hopes he can impress upon his foals. That, plus a pedigree that is a breath of fresh air to New Zealand's broodmare band.

“To be able to stand the horse alongside his father makes it very easy to market him. He’s (also) Danehill-free, and one of the most successful crosses for Street Cry blood is with Danehill.

“What’s really exciting is that Little Brose is owned by a syndicate made up of the majority of New Zealand’s top studs and breeders, so he is going to be very well patronised, and his foals are going to be very well marketed right around New Zealand.”

The future looks bright

Williams heads to Ellerslie this weekend in the hopes that Per Incanto’s offspring can continue to fly the flag for their sire.

“Belclare is going for a third Breeders’ Stakes, it’s never been done,” he shared. “He has Evaporate, the early favourite in the NZB Kiwi. He's got some beautiful horses coming through at the moment.”

Lindsay Park Racing’s Evaporate (NZ) arrived in the spring with a bang, stringing together four wins in a row, rising from Cranbourne maiden to G2 Stutt Stakes win and a third placing by less than a length in the G1 Caulfield Guineas. He touches down in New Zealand as the top weight, having gone down in fourth place last start to the indomitable Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars).

“We talked about Little Brose being a top sprinter in Australia. Roch ‘N’ Horse, Jimmysstar, Gringotts - it just keeps going.”

Connections have indicated that Jimmysstar, last start winner of the G1 Oakleigh Plate, will target the G1 William Reid Stakes next. The current leading New Zealand sire by earnings is making his mark internationally as well.

“I look at the Malaysian fields the other day, and there was a horse up there by him and he's won about 11 races, and he was 12,” Williams said “There were three horses starting at that Malaysian meeting by Per Incanto, and all three were over 10. That was just last weekend. They get better with age, there is no doubt about it.”

Williams’ thoughts turn to the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale next month, where his draft of three all support his star sire in one way or another; two are by the stallion himself, and the third is the first foal from G3 Wenona Girl Handicap winner Belluci Babe (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}).

“I think that this horse could possibly be one of the most expensive horses I've ever sold,” Williams said. “He’s quite something else. There are so many great qualities about the horse - he has stunning movement, just like Per Incanto.

“He’s stunning, and fortunately he has x-rayed nice and clean, so it’s just getting him to Sydney in one piece. He is a lovely animal.”

But there are still four weeks until the Easter sale, so Williams refocuses on the weekend ahead, and is full of praise for the race day that Entain and New Zealand racing have put together.

“All of these races on the same day has made for such a build up of excitement,” he said. “What Entain and NZTR have done with this meeting is staggering. It’s created a real buzz around New Zealand.”

It could be the venue for Per Incanto’s star to continue to rise - the Little Avondale team certainly hopes so.