Little Avondale Stud is offering five mares in the National Online Breeding Stock Sale on Gavelhouse Plus, including a pair of well-credentialled mares carrying foals by the stud’s high-flying sire Per Incanto.
The reputation of the Street Cry stallion continues to grow with every season, courtesy of elite performers such as Australian Group One stars Roch ‘N’ Horse (NZ) and Little Brose, along with the dual New Zealand Group One winner Belclare (NZ).
Per Incanto will stand for a service fee of $50,000 this season, and his yearlings averaged over $170,000 in Book 1 at Karaka earlier this year. Those figures cut a stark contrast with the current bidding on Little Avondale’s two mares that are being offered in foal to Per Incanto. Chanel’s Choice (Redoute’s Choice) sits at $25,000, with New Status Quo (NZ) (Ocean Park) at $10,000.
“With Chanel’s Choice and New Status Quo both being in foal to Per Incanto, whoever buys them is going to be getting them at a very good price,” Little Avondale’s Sam Williams said.
“The stallion is going incredibly well and he has some really good young horses coming through the ranks. Dan Vegas (NZ) has had two starts for two highly impressive wins, and Twain (NZ) was a big winner on debut at Tauranga on Sunday. Per Incanto is just continuing to go from strength to strength.”
Chanel’s Choice boasts some of the strongest credentials in the National Online Breeding Stock Sale catalogue. She is a half-sister to the Group One Coolmore Classic (1500m) winner Steps In Time (Danehill Dancer), while their dam Rare Insight (NZ) (O’Reilly) won the Group Two Stan Fox Stakes (1400m).
The only foal to race so far out of Chanel’s Choice is Whimsical (NZ) (Savabeel), whose four-start career produced two wins including the Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m).
“Chanel’s Choice has got a lot going for her,” Williams said. “She comes from a very good family and a very commercial family. She has a half-sister by More Than Ready, called Murchison, that recently sold for A$800,000 in a broodmare sale in Australia.
“The first foal out of Chanel’s Choice was Whimsical, who was a $240,000 yearling purchase by Bruce Perry and won at Group Three level before an injury unfortunately cut her career short.
“The second foal is by Per Incanto and was retained by the breeders. She’s in the Lindsay Park stable in Australia, and the Hayes boys are obviously big fans of Per Incanto, having trained Little Brose.
“Then there was an Ocean Park (NZ) colt that Bruce Perry bought for $140,000. He’s had one trial and has shown good ability. Bruce came back again and bought the Time Test filly at the weanling sale at Karaka last month.
“Whimsical herself as a Per Incanto colt at foot.
“So she’s a very commercial mare, a daughter of Redoute’s Choice, and she’s in foal to Per Incanto. It’s a wonderful cross, bringing in Redoute’s Choice and O’Reilly (NZ) across to Per Incanto. Both of those stallions have nicked really well with Per Incanto. It’s a very good mating, and anyone that buys this mare could find themselves with a real gem.
“New Status Quo has a bit to recommend her as well, coming from a good family herself and also being in foal to Per Incanto.”
New Status Quo is a half-sister to Placement (NZ) (Savabeel), who placed in the Group One VRC Oaks (2500m) and Group Two Wakeful Stakes (2000m). Placement is the dam of four winners including the stakes-placed Berkshire Lady (Star Witness).
New Status Quo’s second dam Starcent (NZ) (Centaine) was a multiple Group winner and is dam or granddam of more than half a dozen stakes performers, including the multiple Group One-winning sprinting star I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel).
Williams is also enthusiastic about Miss Hoi Polloi (NZ) (Towkay) and Brah Spring (NZ) (Darci Brahma).
Miss Hoi Polloi is a half-sister to the Australian black-type winner Legsman (NZ) (Pins) and to Prickle (NZ) (Pins), the stakes-placed dam of Group One winner Brambles (NZ) (Savabeel), Group Three winner Lincoln Blue (NZ) (Savabeel) and stakes placegetter Lopov (NZ) (Savabeel).
“Miss Hoi Polloi comes from an outstanding Waikato Stud family,” Williams said. “Her first foal sold for $280,000 at the Ready to Run Sale and went to Hong Kong. The second foal is by Time Test and has shown some real promise at the jumpouts for Guy Lowry.
“The next foal was a Per Incanto filly that’s heading to the Ready to Run Sale later this year. She’s most probably going to be the star pick of our seven that we’ll send to that sale. Then there’s a weanling colt by Per Incanto that we’ll prepare for the yearling sales.
“The mare is being sold to dissolve a partnership. I bought the partner out and purchased the filly and the weanling, and now we’re selling the mare to dissolve that partnership. She’s an up-and-coming mare with a lot going for her.”
Brah Spring is a half-sister to the stakes winner Pure Incanto (NZ) (Per Incanto). Brah Spring herself was a seven-time winner on the racetrack.
“She’s from one of our best families, being a granddaughter of Sound Lover (NZ) (Sound Reason),” Williams said. “Brah Spring won seven races herself and was pretty smart in her day.
“Brah Spring has a three-year-old filly by Per Incanto, Prima Bella (NZ), who won quite impressively in New South Wales in her only start earlier this season. She looks like a very smart filly.
“The Time Test yearling was bought by Andrew Carston for $30,000. I had a reserve of $60,000 on her, but I decided to put her on the market and let her go, so she sold for well and truly unders. Andrew is really tickled pink with that filly. She’s broken in beautifully.
“It’s a really good family that we’ve still got a lot of. The Group One performer Belluci Babe (NZ) (Per Incanto) has a Zoustar colt at foot and is in foal to Russian Revolution. A sister to Belluci Babe is in foal to Ardrossan, and their mother is back in foal to Per Incanto. La Bella Grande (NZ) (Per Incanto) finished second at Awapuni on Friday. It’s a red-hot family. Pure Incanto is in foal to Proisir and will go back to him again.
“So there’s a lot going on in this family and it should just continue to get better and better.”
Williams sees this as an ideal time for breeders to get active in New Zealand.
“Things might be a little bit tight at the moment, but you have to remember that you’re breeding for an economy that could be very different in two and a half years’ time,” he said. “When you look at all the exciting things that Entain has brought into the New Zealand racing industry, there’s a lot of exciting developments in the pipeline. If you get yourself a Per Incanto foal, or start breeding from one of these mares, you could be right on the money in a couple of years.”
The 2024 National Online Breeding Stock Sale is now live on Gavelhouse Plus, with the first lot closing from 7pm on Wednesday.
