Not so little
The stud is called Little Avondale Stud but very recently big things have been taking place for the Wairarapa-based nursery. Much the same could be said of Per Incanto (Street Cry) and his new star Jimmysstar, not forgetting big earner and George Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1500m) victor Gringotts.
Before the month is out the world’s leading sprinter, Per Incanto’s grandson, on the distaff side, Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress), may well add another Hong Kong Group 1 sprint to his already fabulous record.
The racetrack is the proving ground but the sales ring is reflective and Per Incanto’s daughter Bellucci Babe saw her first foal, a colt by Zoustar (Northern Meteor), fetch A$1.7 million at the recent Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Sire, damsire and sales results make for a notable, not so little trifecta.
However, there is nothing sudden about Per Incanto’s success. Quite the contrary: it has been a long grind to reach such heights beginning with an initial service fee of $4,000 way back in 2011.
During those earlier seasons anyone who attended the Karaka yearling sales could not miss the sustained enthusiasm on display from Little Avondale Stud’s Sam Williams. It was and still is infectious and Williams’ undying belief in Per Incanto has been fully justified.
One harsh fact is that Per Incanto is not getting any younger. Foaled in 2004 his first crop did not race until the 2014-15 season but his career was off to a flying start as it included Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Dal Cielo. In the same crop was Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Shadows Cast.
His second crop included Ellerslie’s Railway Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Santa Monica. Dual Flemington Group 1 sprinter Roch ‘N’ Horse and big earning Sydney sprinter Lost And Running emerged from the crop of 2016 and the next season provided another dual Group 1 winner, Belclare, back-to-back winner of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
Gringotts and Jimmysstar are among Per Incanto’s 2019 crop and in 2020 it was Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Little Brose who kept the flag flying. A rare Per Incanto colt, Little Brose will have the responsibility to continue his sires’ line beginning later this year, his initial season at Little Avondale Stud. From 2021 is Evaporate, twice successful at Group level in Australia this season and second in the rich NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m) last month.
Per Incanto’s current standing of eighth on the 2024-25 Australian Sire Premiership is largely due to Gringotts’ $3,080,650 and Jimmysstar’s $1,827,550. In the 2022 and 2023 season he ranked among the top 30 but this season has been his breakout year, which explains Little Avondale’s decision to increase his fee from $50,000 (plus GST) to $60,000 (plus GST). Given that Zoustar (Northern Meteor), Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), second, third and fourth on the same listing, stand at more than four times that fee, Per Incanto looks like great value. Without any doubt, if he were in Australia his fee would be considerably higher.
To date, the only title Per Incanto can claim is a racing accolade: Champion Italian 3YO of his year, and he had to share that. As a sire in New Zealand he has had Savabeel (Zabeel) to contend with but has been in the top six the past eight seasons including this one. Twice he has finished third (2019 and 2021) and twice fourth (2020 and 2024).
Perhaps his best chance of nabbing a stallion title might be the Centaine Award which is based on world-wide earnings for New Zealand-domiciled stallions. Jimmysstar’s winning cheque from Saturday’s All Aged Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) pushed Per Incanto’s total ahead of Savabeel but there is still more than three months of the season remaining including two major carnivals, Adelaide and Brisbane.
All the credit
Jimmysstar’s trainer Ciaron Maher summed up his new star’s performances appropriately: “This prep, he has come out this time with the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) and his next two runs have been absolutely outstanding. He has run in four Group 1s and to claim two of them is pretty special.” Maher added: “The other day, he ran home a quicker time in the TJ Smith than he did in the Oakleigh Plate, and his Oakleigh Plate was blistering”.
From 18 starts the five-year-old has accumulated more than $2.1 million recording nine wins and five placings and as discussed in this column on February 25, after the whirlwind finish in the Oakleigh Plate, Per Incanto can take all the credit for his acceleration. Jimmysstar’s sister, Charms Star (Per Incanto) was far more adept over ground and placed in both the New Zealand and Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m).
Their dam, Anniesstar is by Zed (Zabeel), not at all noted for siring sprinters or sprinter-milers. She was successful at stakes level over 2100 metres in the Feilding Gold Cup (Listed, 2100m). Apart from the Awapuni Gold Cup (Gr 2, 2000m), Jacksstar (Zed), the brother to Anniesstar, was an out-and-out stayer who landed the HR Chalmers Handicap (3200m) and placed in the Auckland and Wellington Cups (Gr 1, 3200m).
Jimmysstar is a Little Avondale special because Zed, his damsire, stood there and sired Anniesstar there in 2009, before the stallion was sent into the wilderness covering station mares in the South Island. The stallion’s career was resurrected and he finished his service at Grangewilliam Stud and will forever be remembered for siring the great Verry Elleegant.
Jimmysstar’s family roots are in South America as his fourth dam Love’s Hope (Climber) was a dual Grade 1 winner in Argentina. She was imported to New Zealand as a 13-year-old mare (from USA) in 1989 carrying future Queensland Listed winner Great Lover (Great Charmer). An earlier daughter, Indian Hope (Shadeed), took out a Group 1 in Brazil, one of her ten wins during the early 1990s.
See you in October
Bankers Choice (Mongolian Khan) left New Zealand a little more than three years ago. He left on a high note of three successive wins from the Stephen Marsh stable, signing off with victory in the Anniversary Handicap (Gr 3, 1600m), his fifth win at that time. Transferred to the late Mike Moroney’s stable, Bankers Choice was immediately asked some serious questions including two attempts at Group 1 level in his first three Australian starts.
Although honest, he found Group 1 a shade beyond him yet managed a third in the Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) as a six-year-old. Nevertheless he cashed a lot of cheques but just one win transpired, as a five-year-old in the 2022 Ballarat Cup (Listed, 2000m) plus four Group placings.
This season as a seven-year-old he has been well tried and an accidental change in race tactics brought a Benchmark 100 win at Moonee Valley when Daniel Stackhouse was forced to go forward after being trapped wide. This new found form has been effective, resulting in a Listed second in the Victoria Cup (Gr 3, 2000m) and a Caulfield open handicap.
In Saturday’s Mornington Cup (Listed, 2400m) Bankers Choice sat just off the pace in third to the 400 metres, moved out three deep to lead at the 200 metres then held on grimly for the win, his career ninth for earnings exceeding $1.475 million. The win guaranteed the son of Mongolian Khan (Holy Roman Emperor) a start in the 2025 Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).
His family has been in the news lately as his younger brother by four years, Checkmate (Mongolian Khan), is enjoying a productive season with three wins in eight starts including the Trevor Eagle Memorial Stakes (Listed, 1500m) and a bold third in the rich NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m).
From five to race for four winners, Bankers Choice’s and Checkmate’s dam Signorina (Conatus) has also produced Jodelin Gal (Swiss Ace) to score seven times and run third in the Foxbridge Plate (Gr 2, 1200m). Signorina is proving to be a very good matron.
New Zealand wrap up
Two of the three stakes winners at Ellerslie’s Easter meeting both scored their respective maiden stakes wins on the same day, at Trentham on Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) day, March 29.
Kiwi Skyhawk (Contributer) took out the Manawatu Classic (Gr 3, 2100m) and repeated in the Ellerslie Championship Stakes (Gr 3, 2100m) but his latest win looked remote half way down the straight. Even a hundred metres out a placing looked his lot but in the final strides he dashed between runners and thrust his nose in front at the line taking his record to three wins in 11 starts.
Trentham’s Flying Handicap (Listed, 1400m) winner Doctor Askar (Derryn) also made it back-to-back stakes in Ellerslie’s feature, the Easter Handicap (Gr 3, 1600m), which drew its best field in some years. In an exciting finish Doctor Askar (Derryn) set up a picket fence of five consecutive wins by running down the leader then holding on gamely.
Doctor Askar had never seen Ellerslie before and similarly had never been tried right-handed. It showed as he wobbled around the last corner and took some time to balance. At the 200m he had serious ground to make up on the leader but rallied and fought his way to the front to prevail in a crowded finish.
He broke his maiden late last year and two starts later began his current sequence. He just keeps stepping up, this his sixth win in 15 starts for earnings in excess of $270,000.