Per Incanto colt tops SI bloodstock sale
A yearling colt by Little Avondale Stud stallion Per Incanto topped the New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Sale, knocked down to Garry Carvell’s Hiwi Bloodstock for $100,000.
Presented by the Dennis family’s Ravelston Stud, the colt is out of the four-time winning O’Reilly mare The Dewdrop, a threequarter sister to New Zealand’s champion three-year-old in 2002-03, The Jewel.
‘‘I sorted him out on pedigree to have a look at,’’ Carvell said.
‘‘It is a cross that works well, by Per Incanto out of an O’Reilly mare, and we’ve had a bit of luck with that cross before. I bought Baba Mama, who is bred on that cross and he has won four races in Hong Kong for trainer Peter Ho.’’
The Per Incanto/O’Reilly cross has already produced three stakes winners including Saracino, Lanciato and Tennessee.
‘‘He’s a quality colt and out of a three-quarter sister to the Jewel, so he’s probably one of the betterbred horses in the sale and his x-rays were very clean,’’ Carvell added.
‘‘John Foote was under-bidder on him, everyone was on the horse, but at the end of the day in today’s market he wasn’t expensive.’’ Carvell also went to $16,000 to secure the only other Per Incanto in the sale, lot 25, a chestnut halfbrother to stakes winners Seize The Moment and Savour The Moment.
‘‘Per Incanto is a good sire and he leaves runners. They are going well in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Everyone we have had so far can run.’’
The future of the pair is yet to be decided, but it may lie in Asia, with their new owner being a Singapore client of Carvell’s.
‘‘We’ll trial them up as late twoyear-olds and make a decision then,’’ Carvell said.
It was the second year in succession Ravelston Stud have presented the sale topper, while they also sold a Charm Spirit filly from the same family for $50,000 to respected judge Chris Rutten.
Meanwhile, White Robe Lodge were the leading vendor by aggregate for a third successive year, with a colt by their exciting first season sire Ghibellines fetching
$55,000 to the bid of Robt Dawe. ‘‘We like to think we bring a nice draft to the sale,’’ commented Stud Manager Wayne Stewart.
‘‘The market today wasn’t very strong, but all the horses have gone to very good homes.’’
A total of 63 horses sold for receipts totaling $873,750 at an average of $13,869, with a median of $10,000 and clearance rate of
61%.