Per Incanto gelding Jimmysstar’s much awaited breakthrough stakes victory came in fine style at Caulfield on Saturday, capping yet another big day of Australian results for his sire.
On a day when making ground from off the pace was difficult, the LA and Chrissy and Pete Algie bred Jimmysstar roared home to win the Listed 1400m Weekend Hussler Stakes, registering the 31st individual stakes winner for Per Incanto and the son of Street Cry’s second Melbourne stakeswinner in a fortnight.
Leading trainer Ciaron Maher was full of praise for his talented galloper post-race.
“I said to Blake (Shinn), if he's the horse we think he is, just ride him where he lands and hopefully will get over the top of them and fortunately that's how it panned out.
He's just come on naturally. He's just grown up and he is maturing, you know. He's a Kiwi horse, we all know they get better with time.”
Jimmysstar has now had 12 starts for seven wins and three placings, earning nearly Australian $500,000 in prize money.
Maher indicated the Group One Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes back at Caulfield on November 16 was the likely feature spring target for Jimmysstar.
On the same Caulfield card, Evaporate produced an outstanding performance in the Group One Caulfield Guineas, just failing to deliver Per Incanto his first Australian race meeting stakes double.
The LA bred and last start Group Two winner Evaporate settled back off a difficult barrier in the days feature, before making ground strongly in the home straight to run third, beaten less than a length by the winner Private Life.
Evaporate is nominated for the Group One Ladbrokes Cox Plate on 26 October.
It wasn't just Melbourne on Saturday where Per Incanto was in the thick of the action; his five-year-old son Castilian was successful at Eagle Farm, while in Sydney, Gringotts produced the perfect dress rehearsal for the $3 million Big Dance when he ran second in the A$1.5 million Allan Brown Stakes at Rosehill, a performance which took his stage earnings to over Australian $950,000.