Perry and Petagna reaping the rewards of their belief in Ardrossan

Cover image courtesy Waikato Stud

A homebred for Lib and Katrina Petagna’s JML Bloodstock, just like this year’s G2 Premiere S. hero Lost And Running (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}), Saltcoats built on the promise of his last start third at Listed level to run out an emphatic winner of Saturday’s feature race at Pukekohe Park.

His 3.5l demolition of Paragon (NZ) (Embellish {NZ}) was not only another feather in the cap for his sire Ardrossan, who now has the joint-most stakes winners of any first-season sire in Australasia, but it was also a landmark success for young Cambridge-based trainer Samantha Logan, who was recording her first victory at stakes level on the flat.

Logan, who has always held the progressive juvenile in high regard, is one of the industry’s brightest young stars according to Perry, who was quick to credit the trainer for the excellent job she has done in getting Saltcoats to stakes level so early in his career.

“He is one of a handful of horses that we have with Sam Logan,” Perry said. “We initially just got her to pre-train some for us, all Ardrossans, and we’ve been really impressed with what she’s done, she’s just done such a great job.

“She’s a lovely person, she’s great to deal with and she’s very kind with the horses. She turns them out in immaculate condition and her feedback is excellent.

“We left him (Saltcoats) with her and she’s always rated him highly, hence we decided to give him these runs as a 2-year-old. He’s certainly delivered.”

The decision to keep Saltcoats in training with Logan has proved to be a masterstroke, and the exciting juvenile will now head over to Australia as a stakes winner with any amount of upside.

Connections are now faced with another difficult call, however, with a decision on whether to sell or retain ownership of Saltcoats set to be made by Perry and the Petagnas once the dust has settled on his breakthrough victory.

“Initially the plan was to send him over here to Australia, but with a couple of nice stakes-race options in New Zealand, we decided to keep him there,” Perry added.

“We’ve ticked that box now, so next campaign he’ll head to Australia. Whether we end up selling down or retaining ownership and getting him into an Australian stable, we’ll sit down next week and decide that.”

Australian assault

Saltcoats is not the only New Zealand-bred son of Ardrossan to pack his bags for Australia, with a number of the stallion’s progeny having already made the journey across the Tasman as part of a deliberate plan hatched by Perry and the Petagnas.

The horses in question have joined some of the most potent operations in Australasia, including that of a familiar face in Hong Kong, and Perry is optimistic that a few more Ardrossans will follow suit in the coming weeks.

“The plan with all the Ardrossans that we’ve had with Sam - and we’ve used Sam Mynott as well, who has also done a great job - was to get them into Australian stables,” Perry said.

“We’ve already done that with a couple of others that we’ve had. One has gone to Mike Moroney, then we’ve got another Ardrossan that has gone to Chris Waller and one has sold to Jamie Richards as well, so we’re getting them in the right places.

“There’s a lovely filly running next week in a stakes race, El Amor, who we rate very highly. The wet track won’t suit her, but we just thought we’d give her the one run because she’s very capable of winning, and then give her a break before sending her to Australia as well.

“He (Ardrossan) only had 44 in his first crop, so the number one focus was to make sure we got them in the right areas to promote the stallion. Thankfully he’s doing what we always thought he could do. There’s plenty happening and it’s exciting.”

Such was the impression that Saltcoats was creating at home, a number of interested parties were swooping from across the Tasman before he had even lined up for his competitive debut, with the gelding showing plenty of promise in two barrier trials prior to his encouraging debut second at Hastings last month.

Much to connections’ delight, Saltcoats has continued to build on that early promise, and Perry is convinced that the best is yet to come when he resumes a more mature and streetwise individual next preparation.

“In the early days just in his trackwork, before he even raced, a couple of people saw him at the track in Cambridge,” Perry revealed.

“He trialled very well, he had a couple of very easy seconds where he could have won but they just didn’t put pressure on him. We had opportunities to sell him then but we decided ‘no, we’ll do the right thing by the horse for now’, and hopefully it’s paying off.

“He’s still immature, he’s got a lot of furnishing to do, but he’s a very good-moving horse, which is probably an attribute of most of the Ardrossans.”

Sensational start

Ardrossan’s third stakes winner from just nine runners to date capped yet another remarkable day for Waikato Stud stallions, with Ocean Park (NZ) siring his fourth Group 1 winner courtesy of Kovalica’s (NZ) emphatic G1 Queensland Derby success and Savabeel again recording multiple Saturday winners to continue his fine autumn.

Saltcoats himself is out of the winning Savabeel mare Savanite (NZ), whom Perry purchased for NZ$85,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Sale back in 2016. Bred on the same cross as rising Hong Kong star Golden Express (Not A Single Doubt), Saltcoats is a fine example of the quality that Ardrossan is producing according to Perry, who has been a big believer in the stallion since day one having purchased him as a yearling for $150,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale back in 2016.

“Savabeel mares mate nicely with Redoute’s (Choice)-line stallions and Ardrossan is actually an easy horse to mate to,” Perry said.

“Probably his greatest attribute so far that we’re seeing is that whatever you send to him seems to pop out a good looking bay or brown horse with a great head, correct conformation and is very athletic. It makes our job pretty easy, he’s doing the hard work.

“His book is very full - in hindsight, he probably could have stood for a lot more with three stakes winners from nine runners, but a lot of the people who supported him in the past have been able to get back in.

“We’ve believed in him from day one and have supported him right the way through for a number of years. One or two of the shareholders put together a little group to try and help the horse and it looks like it’s paying off. Our little group, with Lib (Petagna), I think we have about 18 mares in foal to him and we’ve got about 30 booked to him.

“So far it’s a great story and hopefully it will continue.”

Ardrossan’s hugely promising start to life at stud, which includes unbeaten stakes winner Codigo (NZ) and Listed Champagne S. heroine Loch Katrine (NZ), is not the only source of excitement for Perry and the Petagnas, with the latter’s Elsdon Park enjoying a terrific first full season in operation.

Gallery: A couple of Ardrossan's early stakes winners, images courtesy of Trish Dunell

The property formerly known as Valachi Downs was purchased by the Petagnas in May last year with the aim of being a private breeding operation, and with Saltcoats becoming the fourth stakes winner this season to be bred under Elsdon Park’s JML Bloodstock banner, things could hardly be going better.

Speaking from the Gold Coast, Perry has spent the last week attempting to secure broodmares for the burgeoning Waikato-based operation, but such is the quality already in the paddocks at Elsdon Park, including elite-level winners Lucia Valentina (NZ) (Savabeel) and Sofia Rosa (NZ) (Makfi {GB}), Perry opted to keep his powder dry and came away with just two mares for other clients.

“Lib is delighted with how Elsdon Park is going,” Perry said. “He’s got some lovely foals and a great team around him.

“Kerrie Cox, who manages the farm, she and her team are just doing a brilliant job and they have got a wonderful broodmare band, as have a number of other breeders in New Zealand.

“I’ve been up at Magic Millions, we tried to buy mares and we struggled, but we’ve walked around the sales ring, had a look at a lot of mares, then we sort of reflect back on what we’ve got at home and not many compare on type and with what they’re producing with the mares back on the farm.

“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t get what we wanted, but it’s also reassuring.”

Plenty to be proud of

Another source of reassurance for Perry and the Petagnas has been the dominance of New Zealand horses in Australia over the past year, with Kiwi-breds accounting for an astonishing 21 Group 1 races across the Tasman this season.

Despite not having the financial clout of some of Australia’s leading stud farms, New Zealand breeders continue to punch above their weight on the international stage, much of which Perry feels is down to the industry’s talent, both equine and human.

“At the end of the day we’ve got some great horse people and we have some wonderful trainers - new people like Sam Logan coming through for example,” he said.

“We can’t afford to be doing what a lot of the Australian breeders, particularly Yulong, are doing in buying those high-end commercial mares, but we’re breeding a very good product and I think it’s a reflection on the quality of the mares in New Zealand.

“I go to most of the sales and on the whole I think New Zealand is breeding a very high percentage of athletic horses.

“At the end of the day that’s what runs. It doesn’t matter how well-bred they are, they’ve got to be athletes, and that’s what our breeders seem to breed.”

In addition to the undeniable quality in the broodmare population, Perry also highlighted the recent success of the New Zealand stallion ranks both domestically and overseas, with burgeoning young sires like Ardrossan and Satono Aladdin (Jpn) giving the racing and breeding industries plenty of cause for optimism.

Gallery: A selection of the in-demand stallions standing in New Zealand in the 2023 season

“Hopefully Ardrossan ends up a wonderful stallion for the industry, and thankfully at the moment he’s one of just a number,” Perry added.

“Satono Aladdin, Proisir, we’re very fortunate at the moment. Whilst they weren’t high-profile horses initially, we have a good number of stallions that are really doing the job, including horses like Savabeel, who has had a great carnival, and Per Incanto.

“Like anything, you’ve just got to enjoy it while it lasts.”