Photo by Brett Holburt/Racing Photos
Ben, Will and JD Hayes know a thing or two about the juvenile progeny of Per Incanto, and they unveiled another exciting son of the Little Avondale Stud stallion in Melbourne’s first two-year-old race of the season on Saturday.
The Lindsay Park team took out the A$175,000 Listed Darley Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) at Flemington with Eurocanto, who is by Per Incanto out of the Savabeel mare Shespending.
Eurocanto’s perfect debut came just under three years after the Hayes brothers saddled another Per Incanto first-starter, Little Brose, to finish second in the Gr.3 Maribyrnong Plate over the same course and distance. Little Brose went on to capture the Gr.1 Blue Diamond (1200m) and Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) and is currently standing his first season alongside his sire at Little Avondale.
Comparisons are inevitable after Eurocanto’s heroics on Saturday, where he launched a brilliant finish from the back of the field in the hands of jockey Mark Zahra.
Eurocanto still had only two horses behind him with 150m to run, but he stretched out powerfully down the outside to finish over the top of Streisand and snatch victory by a half-head.
“It’s a little bit early for comparisons, but he was a little bit ‘Brosey’ there,” JD Hayes said. “It was a terrific ride. He got last crack at them and he attacked the line, which is what you like to see. It was a professional performance.
“We’ll see how he pulls up and it would be tempting, all systems go, to head into Cup Week (for the Maribyrnong Plate). But first and foremost we’ll see how he is first thing in the morning.”
Eurocanto’s performance made a big impression on Zahra.
“To be honest, I usually don’t like riding two-year-olds too early,” he said. “But I always pick up the phone when the Hayes brothers call, because they’ll usually identify one that they’re happy with and they want me to trial it. It is a good process, and if I like the horse, I’ll stick with it.
“That is what happened with this guy. I trialed him twice and liked him two times, and he’s got the job done today.
“His manners in the barriers left a little bit to be desired, but I just left him alone. It is a tough test first-up up the straight over 1000m and I like to be the last one on the scene. He did that well. He was able to travel up behind them and then showed good grip late to win. I was able to come down the middle and quicken, which is hard for them to do without a rail. Good effort and well trained.”
Eurocanto was bred by Evergreen Stud Farm and is out of a full-sister to the Listed Lonhro Plate (1000m) winner Tilianam.
The third dam is Waikato Stud’s Group Three-winning and Group One-placed O’Reilly mare Splashing Out, who produced the Group winners Splurge, Shopaholic and Packing Eagle. Splashing Out is a three-quarter-sister to the multiple Group One winner and sire Sacred Falls.
Lindsay Park secured Eurocanto for A$250,000 from the 2025 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
“He was picked out by our sales team up at the sales,” he said. “Dean Hawthorne does a terrific job. We really liked this colt, and we’ve had good success with the stallion. He’s an athletic style of horse with plenty of improvement to come and it was good to be able to kick off his career in that fashion.”
