Seven-year-old mare Belle Fascino lands much deserved Group 3
Little Avondale Stud-based sire Per Incanto (Street Cry) was handed his 18th stakes winner on Saturday as his daughter Belle Fascino (7 m ex Playing For Keeps by Keeper) landed a much deserved stakes win in the White Robe Lodge Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) at Wingatui.
The Stephen Marsh-trained seven-year-old mare was having her 48th career start and she beat Ray’s In Command (Raise The Flag) by head, while Goodanya (Zacinto) was another nose away in third.
“This mare had been stakes-placed four times, so she really deserved this win,” Marsh said. “When she was up here in the north, she’d just been pottering around in Rating 65 and 74 grade. We hoped she might take the next step when we sent her south, and she’s done that with all those black-type placings.
“Today was her day, which is just great for this mare and for all of her connections. I’m chuffed for my foreman Rhys Mildon, who also owns a share in the horse. He flew down there to see this race, thinking it could be a rare chance for him to celebrate a black-type win as an owner. It worked out perfectly.
“Sam Wynne is another huge part of this result. She rode a great race today, she knows the mare so well, and she’s done great work for us as the head lass at our Riccarton stable. So, it’s been a really good team effort, and it’s all come together perfectly with that result today.
“This race was the master plan, and it’s come off. We’ve been pretty solid on her in recent times, backing her up and backing her up, so she can have a nice quiet week or two now. We don’t have any firm plans, but we could look at something like the South Island Breeders’ Stakes in March.”
Belle Fascino is one of four winners out of the three time-winning Keeper (Danehill) mare Playing For Keeps and hails from the family of Group 3 winner Zafar (Zabeel).
Per Incanto’s progeny is headed by Group 1-winning quartet Shadows Cast, Dal Cielo, Santa Monica and Bonham and he stood at Little Avondale for a fee of NZ$15,000 (plus GST) in 2020.
