Full head of steam for LA ahead of Karaka

[Wandering Eyes]

With Per Incanto flying high on three sires’ premierships and young associate shuttle stallion Time Test on the board from his first domestic crop, the good times are continuing to roll for Little Avondale Stud.

Farm stalwart Per Incanto currently occupies top four standings in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore and a major presence in Australia through his gifted sprinting son Lost And Running, while Time Test has made a bright start to his career.

From a handful of runners to date, Time Ruler credited him with his first winner and he was one of three by the Dubawi stallion to make the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) field with Little Avondale the co-breeder and part-owner of fourth place finisher Time Flies.

And so the Masterton nursery will head to New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale in high spirits, despite a late change of plan this week to cancel a live parade with the health and safety of staff paramount.

“To be brutally honest, none of us here are in fear of COVID, we just have to live with it, but it’s about getting the team to Karaka safely so we can participate and present our horses the best we can,” Sam Williams said.

“On Tuesday night, I said we had to protect the staff and not let the public in. We had a lot of people booked for the parade and we cancelled on Tuesday. We decided to do a virtual parade and organised it Wednesday morning and held it on Thursday.

“To do that in less than 24 hours was amazing and we streamed it through Facebook. The team were disappointed we had to cancel because they are proud as punch of the draft and the work they have put in and there were owners and people out there wanting to see the horses.

“But by doing it the way we did, we were actually capturing a bigger audience and it was there worldwide for anyone that wanted to watch it. You can only try these things – it was our first virtual parade for our 81^st draft.”

To view the virtual parade click here: https://www.facebook.com/LittleAvondaleStud/videos/357795222867550

Per Incanto and Time Test are well-represented in Little Avondale’s Book 1 and 2 drafts.

“Per Incanto is leading the premiership in Hong Kong for individual winners (12) and he won that last year. Lost And Running is proving to be a sprint sensation in Australia for him as well,” Williams said.

“Ciaron Maher has got a horse called Can’t Go Wong, who has won two of his three starts, in the Autumn Classic (Gr.2, 1800m) at Caulfield on Saturday and recently Belluci Babe was second in the Group Two Millie Fox Stakes (1600m).

“Justacanta has been forever consistent since he left the shores of New Zealand and won a Group Two (Linlithgow Stakes, 1200m) and a Listed race (Paris Lane Stakes, 1410m) over the Melbourne carnival – amazing stuff.”

Among the Per Incanto progeny Little Avondale will offer during the Book 1 session is Lot 460, who is out of a half-sister to the Gr.1 ATC Derby (2400m) winner Roman Emperor and Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) winner Rios.

An international flavour is provided by the New Zealand-bred Black Mamba, who won the Gr.1 John Mabee Handicap (1800m) at Del Mar.

“The filly out of Omana is a stand-out, she would be up the top of any draft and is a beautiful filly with a great walk and an attractive head. She’s a very sexy filly with a great page,” Williams said.

“We’ve got a lot of Per Incanto fillies this year and he has had 22 stakes winners and 47 stakes performers and 25 of them are fillies so he’s never been sex biased.”

Lot 110 by Per Incanto is a well-credentialled colt and he is out of the Stravinsky mare Ballet Danseuse, a half-sister to the multiple Group One winner Efficient.

“He is a big, strong boy with a great temperament and got that typical Per Incanto back end,” Williams said.

“The interesting Per Incanto in our draft is the Isstoora colt, who is from the family of Redoute’s Choice.”

Lot 330 is a half-brother to smart debut winner Desert Lightning, who makes his second appearance in Saturday’s Gr.3 Fairview Matamata Slipper (1200m).

Little Avondale will also offer youngsters in Book 1 by Time Test, Shooting To Win, American Pharoah, Savabeel, Ocean Park and Belardo.

“Time Test is really exciting with 12 individual winners in the Northern Hemisphere and he was leading first-season sire for stakes horses up there,” Williams said.

“He’s a grouse horse – three runners in the Karaka Million is testament to their natural ability and I think they will be far better as three-year-olds as he was a three and four-year-old.”

Williams dipped into Book 2 to single out a daughter (Lot 812) of Time Test, who is out of a three-quarter sister to the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) winner Fears Nothing, for special mention.

“She is a stand-out filly owned by Christopher Grace and is out of Endeavour and she is a stunning individual,” Williams said.

He is confident Little Avondale, and all its fellow sellers, have done everything possible to promote its draft to the wider audiences.

“Obviously, the Australians aren’t going to be here and hopefully they will have agents on the ground. The Kiwi vendors have very much gone out of their way to provide as much information and be as transparent as possible,” Williams said.

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