Cover image courtesy of Little Avondale Stud
Last season’s Centaine Award winner Per Incanto (USA) will have a fee rise in 2026 to NZ$75,000 plus GST, up from NZ$60,000 in 2025. The rising 23-year-old stallion will serve a restricted book in 2026 with plenty of Australian breeders lining up to take advantage of his fee relative to Australia.
“He’ll breed you a racehorse. He sired the winner of the first Victorian 2-year-old stakes race this season (Eurocanto) and you get a horse that trains on like three-time Group 1 winner Jimmysstar and Gringotts. The horse looks incredible and we just love him,” said Little Avondale Stud’s Sam Williams.
Popular with Australian breeders
Per Incanto (USA) served 95 mares in both 2024 and 2025, and in 2026, he’ll be kept to that figure or slightly lower to preserve his longevity.
“Think about it, 75,000 Kiwi bucks at 82 cents in the dollar is a bargain, even with the cost of transport for your mare. If you are selling them in Aussie dollars, it works out well. The last five mares booked to him this year have all come from Australia, and all from notable breeders,” said Williams.
Per Incanto (USA) | Standing at Little Avondale Stud
“Linda Huddy sold a Per Incanto at Easter through Lime Country this year, who made $400,000 and he was a beautiful horse. Linda has been a regular breeder to him over the last few years. Francis and Christine Cook who race a few Per Incanto’s sent a mare last year. Sledmere and North sent mares, as did Sheamus Mills.
“We think he’s good value compared to the top priced Aussie stallions.”
The son of Street Cry (Ire) won the Centaine Award in 2024/25 for combined ANZ earnings by the progeny of a New Zealand based stallion. This season, he’s sitting in fifth on the Australian Sires’ Premiership, and only himself and Fastnet Rock in the top ten have under 100 runners for the season.
“We think he’s (Per Incanto) good value compared to the top priced Aussie stallions.” - Sam Williams
Per Incanto, as at Tuesday April 21, has had 86 runners in Australia this season for 49 winners and four stakes winners. Jimmysstar (NZ) is his leading earner for the season, having pocketed $6 million for his connections (and over $8.4 million throughout his career).
“He started his career at $4,000 and now he’s at $75,000. He’s done it the hard way. He’s been an amazing sire who never stood at a big fee until the last couple of years. Katrina and I and the Per Incanto Syndicate are so grateful to have found him and to have him here in the back paddock.
Sam Williams | Image courtesy of Inglis
“At the Sydney Easter Yearling Sale he averaged NZ$451,000 and across all sales his 32 yearlings averaged more than $200,000,” Williams added.
Per Incanto has sired 36 individual stakes winners, with eight of them coming from that first crop. He has nine Group 1 winners, led by triple Group 1 winner Jimmysstar, while Roch ‘n’ Horse (NZ) was a dual Group 1 winning sprinter in Australia. Gringotts (NZ) won the G1 George Ryder Stakes and has earnings over $6 million thanks to dual wins in The Big Dance. Per Incanto’s other Australian Group 1 winner is Little Brose, who stands alongside him at Little Avondale Stud.
Time for the next generation to shine
Per Incanto sits in the pedigree of the current World’s Best Racehorse, Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) as his damsire, and this is a role that is a growing one for him.
“His broodmare stats are through the roof with nine stakes winners already. These broodmares that are leaving these horses are from mares who are from pedigrees that are not Book 1 quality. He’s doing it off those bottom tiered fillies and they are mostly by sires who stand at $20,000 or less.”
Ka Ying Rising | Image courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Recent juvenile stakes winner Enchantment (NZ) (Hello Youmzain {Fr}) is out of Per Incanto mare Belle Fascino (NZ), and Hello Youmzain (Fr) is the most expensive stallion yet to produce a stakes winner from a Per Incanto mare.
“Street Cry is so influential in Australasian racing. Anamoe sold like hot cakes, and I’ve heard that Tentyris is full already and he was only announced this week.”
And it’s this influence from Street Cry (Ire) through Per Incanto, and Street Boss (USA) that had Little Avondale Stud investing into Per Incanto’s G1 Blue Diamond Stakes winning son Little Brose last season.
Street Cry (Ire) | Image courtesy of Darley
Little Brose unchanged for second season
Trained by Lindsay Park, Little Brose won the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes at his second start and went on to win the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes at start number four. Back at three, he ran into future Group 1 winners Cylinder and Veight (Grunt {NZ}) when fourth and third in the G3 Vain Stakes and G3 HDF McNeil Stakes respectively.
“On the racetrack, he was fast, just like his father, and his father was very fast. He was an incredibly precocious 2-year-old. To come out and win the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes over Champion Colt Cylinder, before Christmas, that was special,” Williams said. And that’s without mentioning his Group 1 win.
“New Zealand hasn't had a Group 1 Australian winning stallion since Darci Brahma retired in 2006, and breeders recognised his importance in his first season.”
“New Zealand hasn't had a Group 1 Australian winning stallion since Darci Brahma retired in 2006, and breeders recognised his importance in his first season.” - Sam Williams
Little Brose was popular in his first season in 2025, with the farm eagerly awaiting his first crops this spring.
“He covered 140 mares last year and is super fertile with 129 of them in foal,” Williams said.
“He was supported by the vast majority of all the leading breeders in New Zealand, so we couldn’t have been happier with the welcome he received and the quality of mares he attracted.”
He will stay at the unchanged fee of NZ$15,000 plus GST for his second season in 2026.
Little Brose | Standing at Little Avondale Stud
Little Brose earned over $1.6 million as a racehorse, and he brings a strong American family to the equation. His dam, Mohegan Sky (USA) (Straight Man {USA}) won five races, all at 1200 metres including the Listed Belmont Music Prince Stakes.
The pedigree had a recent update with Little Brose’s half-sister Mohegan Star (NZ) (Reliable Man {GB}) producing Listed Oaklands Plate winner Matagha (NZ) (Tivaci) late last season.
Little Brose’s damsire Straight Man (USA) comes from the Halo (USA) line which has done so well in Japan via Sunday Silence (USA) and Deep Impact (Jpn), as well as globally with the likes of More Than Ready (USA). It's a pedigree free of Danehill (USA) and filled with lines who've crossed well with him.
