The form out of New Zealand’s newest and richest race stood tall on one of Australia’s biggest stages when Evaporate (NZ) (Per Incanto) won the Gr.3 HKJC World Pool Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) on the opening day of The Championships at Randwick on Saturday.
Evaporate’s last start was in the inaugural $3.5 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie on March 8, where he was a gallant runner-up behind Te Akau Racing filly Damask Rose.
The Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained Evaporate had previously been a top-flight performer in Melbourne. He began his three-year-old season with four straight wins including the Gr.2 Stutt Stakes (1600m), then finished third in the Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m), third in the Gr.2 Autumn Stakes (1400m) and fourth behind elite weight-for-age opposition in February’s Gr.1 Futurity Stakes (1400m).
Saturday’s Carbine Club Stakes was billed as a two-horse race between Evaporate and the Gr.1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) and Rosehill Guineas (2000m) placegetter Swiftfalcon (Exceedance) but Evaporate came out convincingly on top.
Evaporate was ridden on Saturday by Blake Shinn, who had been his NZB Kiwi conqueror with a masterful ground-saving ride on Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel).
Shinn slotted Evaporate into second in the Carbine Club Stakes, sitting four lengths adrift of the free-going leader Shangri La Spring (Castelvecchio) coming down the side of the track.
Evaporate began to eat into that margin approaching the home turn, and then the Per Incanto gelding cruised past Shangri La Spring with 250m to run.
A quality turn of foot carried Evaporate well clear, putting an insurmountable margin between himself and the favourite Swiftfalcon. That runner warmed into his work and gained ground late in the piece, but Evaporate was still two lengths in front of him at the finish line.
“He felt amazing,” Shinn said. “This is a really good horse. He’s proven that he’s on the cusp of Group One level. I think he is a Group One horse in the making.
“He ran great in the Kiwi. I said to the guys that I owe them one after that race, and he came here today in really good order. Everything worked in his favour and he showed his true class.
“He’s mixed it with the best horses in our land and been competitive. It was probably a step back in class a little bit today, and it was just great to get the ride and win in these colours. They’re probably some of my favourite people, Francis and Christine Cook, and it’s just an honour to win for them.”
Evaporate has now had 14 starts for five wins, five placings and A$1.46 million in stakes.
“He’s a horse that we’ve always had a high opinion of,” Ben Hayes said. “He ran third in a Caulfield Guineas, and this prep he hadn’t had much luck. His first three runs he had excuses. He got caught three-wide in the weight-for-age Group One. Over in the Kiwi, we were a little bit unlucky and got shuffled back.
“Today, in a smaller field, Blake was able to get him into a great rhythm. He just gave Swiftfalcon too much to do and he was strong to the line. But he was carrying the two extra kilos and he won quite convincingly, so we’re thrilled. I’m thrilled for the whole team. Will and JD, they’ll be very happy in Melbourne.
“He’s going into his four-year-old year next season and there’s a really nice race in Sydney called the Golden Eagle (1500m). We haven’t mapped out a path or anything, I haven’t spoken to my brothers, but that would be a Grand Final kind of race to get to, and he’s done a great job this prep. He’s travelled to New Zealand, travelled back, and he’s just thrived. He looks to have pulled up fantastic.”
Evaporate was bred by Little Avondale Stud, home to Per Incanto, a son of Street Cry who has sired nine Group One winners and 33 stakes winners to date including recent Group One heroics by Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto)in Melbourne and Gringotts (NZ) (Per Incanto) in Sydney.
The dam of Evaporate is the unraced Animal Kingdom mare Savanna, whose two foals to race have both been winners.
Savanna’s half-sister Belluci Babe (NZ) ( Per Incanto) carried the Little Avondale colours to Group Three success in Australia for trainer Bjorn Baker, and Little Avondale will offer her colt foal by Zoustar as Lot 297 in this week’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Evaporate was bought by Lindsay Park Racing for A$330,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2023.
Little Avondale’s Sam and Catriona Williams retained a share in the ownership of Evaporate, and they were on course for his Carbine Club Stakes success at Randwick on Saturday.
“This is what it’s all about,” Sam Williams said. “We’re on the international stage. We’re at The Championships. We’re on the cusp of the Easter Sale, where we’re offering a close relative to Evaporate and a number of Per Incanto yearlings. So it’s just fantastic and I’m so proud of the horse.
“The New Zealand form has held up with this result, and our horses really do outperform themselves in Australia compared to their numbers. It’s fantastic for the industry, fantastic for the stud, fantastic for the stallion, and go the Kiwis for the rest of the carnival.”