Almost 70 years after his grandmother bred the winner of the Cox Plate, Kiwi horseman Sam Williams will chase his own slice of racing history with three-year-old Evaporate(NZ) (Per Incanto) in Saturday’s weight-for-age championship at The Valley.
Williams, who owns and operates Little Avondale Stud with his wife Catriona, bred, sold and retained a share in the son of his resident stallion Per Incanto, who was bought by Lindsay Park Racing for $330,000 at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The three-year-old has won four of his nine starts, including the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at The Valley, and was beaten by less than a length in the G1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) last start.
Williams said the Cox Plate has captivated him since he was young and the prospect of breeding and part-owning a runner is hugely exciting.
“From my perspective, the Cox Plate is ‘the race’, so it’s massive to have a runner,” Williams said.
“Yeman was a horse that my grandmother bred and he won the Cox Plate (in 1958), so to have another runner is enormous.
“When I was a young fella growing up, one of my favourite horses was Kingston Town and I’ll never forget that famous call and his incredible third win in the race.
“You look at the honour roll with the likes of Sunline and Winx and all these champions, so it’s the sort of race where you remember where you were to watch it.”
Williams is the first to admit that he’s a passive owner, rarely voicing his unsolicited opinions to trainers.
But he was able to provide some insight into Evaporate’s pedigree when the Hayes brothers called earlier in the week, keen to inform their decision about whether to run the youngster alongside star stablemate Mr Brightside.
Evaporate’s dam, Animal Kingdom mare Savanna, was unraced, but further down her page, there is evidence that the family can produce a horse with plenty of stoutness.
The gelding’s third dam Sound Lover was a G3-winning miler who left G1 Sydney Cup (3200m) placegetter Philosophe and G1 Metropolitan (2400m) placegetter Men At Work.
It’s the same family as dual Oaks winner Candide and Williams told the team there is enough reason to think Evaporate can successfully stretch out beyond 1600m.
“When they rang the other day, we talked about his pedigree,” he said.
“On the mum’s side, there are horses like Philosophe, Men At Work, Marju Snip and Candide, who was a dual Oaks winner, so there is stamina there to get him past a mile.
“His third dam Sound Lover was a real blue hen mare – I think she left 12 foals, 10 made it to the races, all of them won and between them, they won over 60 races.
“She had a very good horse up in Hong Kong by the name of Cheeky and I remember when he had his first trial in Sydney, he gave Commands a bit of a toweling.
“Candide won the New Zealand Oaks and the AJC Oaks – we bred and sold her as a yearling.
“Funnily enough, she left Nadeem, who ended up standing here at stud.
“So the family has been in our family for three generations.”
For Little Avondale’s banner stallion Per Incanto, a Cox Plate runner is a chance to showcase his versatility, according to Williams.
The son of Street Cry has produced seven individual G1 winners, across races between 1200m and 1600m.
Among the stallion’s elite performers is Little Brose, who won the 2023 Blue Diamond Stakes for Lindsay Park.
“I said it back at the start of the season that I thought the stallion could be in for one of his most successful seasons on the track and it looks like it’s panning out that way,” he said.
“He’s a son of Street Cry and we’ve seen how successful that blood has been over the last month to six weeks in Australia with Pride Of Dubai and Street Boss.
“Obviously Per Incanto has made his own headlines with Evaporate, Rue De Royale, Jimmysstar and Gringotts.
“Per Incanto himself, his progeny have been more sprinters than anything but he has left two genuine Group 1-winning milers.
“To have a horse in a 2000-metre Group 1 weight-for-age race – the biggest one – is just phenomenal for the stallion.
“I don’t think it’s coincidence that the (Lindsay Park) stable has had success with the breed, I think it’s the team around them and their systems they’ve got in place.
“When they go to the sales, one of the key people in their team and part of the selection process is Dean Hawthorne.
“Dean is a good mate of mine and he knows Per Incanto well because he’s based here in New Zealand.
“He gets to go around and see them all and he knows the good ones.”
