Rocanto Rallies Towards Diamond Stakes

The great run of first season sire Per Incanto continued on Saturday with the promising Rocanto (NZ) (Per Incanto) achieving victory in the $50,000 Listed Reid & Harrison (1980) Limited Slipper (1200m) at Matamata.

Rocanto (NZ) wins the Listed Reid & Harrison (1980) Limited Slipper. Photo courtesy of Trish Dunell.

Little Avondale Stud stallion Per Incanto has already sired six winners from his first crop to race with Rocanto becoming his first stakes winner. Per Incanto came close to siring his second stakes winner later in the day at Matamata with Nahema (NZ) finishing a close second in the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes.

This was Rocanto’s third win from his four starts for trainer Stephen Marsh, and first at stakes level. Winning on debut over 1100m in December, the two-year-old colt’s two previous wins both came at Te Rapa.

“It was great to see him win,” commented Marsh. “His first big assignment was obviously the Eclipse where he was unplaced but we felt he had his reasons for that.

“It was good to see him bounce back into top company again and to see him show how good he really is. He is an exciting horse and we think he looks like a Guineas horse.”

Jockey Mark Du Plessis rode Rocanto forward out of barrier 3 to hit the lead along with Element (NZ) (Stravinsky), who was positioned on the inside of Rocanto. As they settled into the race, Element took the lead with Rocanto sitting just three-quarters-of-a-length away in second.

Rocanto ranged up and swept to the lead in the closing stages to win by a short neck. Race favourite Selfie (NZ) (Thewayyouare) stormed up on the outside of Rocanto to finish in second position and Battle Time (NZ) (Battle Paint) sneaked through on the rail for third place.

“We are over the moon with him. He has come through the race super and will head to the Diamond Stakes,” Marsh said.

“It’s great to see him back winning and against better horses. He is not fully concentrating, he is a very nice, relaxed colt but there is still a lot of improvement in him which I think the more racing he has the better he will be.

“The reason why we haven’t applied any blinkers on him yet is we feel he will be a lot better as a three-year-old and right now he is racing well enough, we don’t want to push it too far. We will just hold off on the blinkers and he will go round with no gear on.”

The Per Incanto colt has earned a total of $61,635 in prizemoney for owner K Lau.

Purchased at the 2013 National Weanling Sale for $8,500 by Ms JA Lawrie from Little Avondale Stud, Rocanto was then offered as a yearling at the 2014 Festival Sale from Archer Park.

Bred by Justice Goddard, Rocanto is out of an unraced mare Romantic Liaisons (Danasinga),who is a half-sister to Secret Liaisons (T.V. Heart Throb), winner of the Listed James HB Carr Stakes and dam of Group 1 winner Reigning To Win (King of Kings).