Our Origins

Over three decades from 1940, the famed Te Parae property of Alister and Nancy Williams provided the impetus for the modern operation. Watch BRED TO WIN for a bit of real thoroughbred history and to see Buzz Williams and father Alister a year or two ago.

Even before Mr and Mrs Williams senior married in 1939, the former Nancy Teschemaker had set the ground rules: without her horses and dogs, she would not be leaving the South Island.

Having gained approval, the young bride arrived on the 1200 acre Williams sheep and beef farm east of Masterton. And with just two mares, one a gift and the other bought for five pounds, she set about creating a dream.

Nancy Williams possessed a superb eye for stock and, in tandem with her husband's ability to read and assess a pedigree, the pair made a lasting impact on the New Zealand thoroughbred scene.

The English mare Sunbride, foaled in 1942 and purchased for 1250 guineas, and the all-time champion stallion Oncidium were their greatest coups.

Nancy Williams saw Sunbride's head poking over a box at Trentham after the mare arrived by ship and purchased her by tender, against advice. But as Alister Williams, a co-founder of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Assn, went on to tell the racing journalist Stan McEwen, she had the last word.

Sunbride had four filly foals to start with, none of whom had shown any distinction on the racecourse, and at the time was in foal to Faux Tirage.

As Sunbride provided the female line to follow, Alister and Nancy's first stallion was the prepotent Sabaean , imported from the UK in 1947, followed by the hugely successful duo of Agricola and Oncidium.

Oncidium was a peerless stallion. With six crops racing at the time of his tragically premature death, he won the Dewer three times topping the Australian and New Zealand Prizemoney Won Combined and produced a legendary roll of honour including Leilani (Caulfield Cup), Taras Bulba (AJC Derby), Dayana (VRC Derby), Gold Brick (AJC Derby), Young Ida (NZ Oaks), Sandarae (VRC Oaks), Grand Cidium (Caulfield Guineas) and Oncidon (Metropolitan Handicap).

Clearly, the Williams' sons Tom and Richard (Buzz) had the opportunity to learn from the best.

"The greatest lesson from my mother was her attention to detail: she was meticulous about everything to do with the horses," says Buzz Williams. "The combination with Dad was unbeatable. The international experts said it couldn't be done but Nancy Williams did it: she produced the perfect yearling.

Initially, the Little Avondale partnership held shares in just two stallions – Cambridge Stud’s mighty Zabeel and Gary Chittick's Centaine. 

However with their original female lines (so closely linked to the famed Te Parae heritage) still intact, taking the stud onwards and upwards was a challenge the Williams family have tackled with relish.

Little Avondale's first resident stallion was Carolingian, joined in 1999 by Towkay, the son of Last Tycoon and Princess Tracy. Zed joined the LA team in 2007. From the pre-potent Eight Carat family and by New Zealand's champion sire Zabeel out of the multiple Gr.1 winning Danehill mare Emerald Dream, Zed is now based with Mark Corcoran's Grangewilliam Stud, just north of Wanganui, and has established himself as one of NZ's foremost staying stallions through the likes of the champion mare Verry Elleegant, fellow Gr.1 winners Ladies Man and Survived along with Gr.2 winners  Jacksstar, Robusto, Waisake and the outstanding jumper Zed Em.

The Group 1 Blue Diamond winner Nadeem arrived at LA in 2012 and the son of Redoute’s Choice went onto to fashion a very good record leaving 31 stakes winners, including the international Group 1 winner Sterling City, before retiring in 2018.

Who could have thought that fifty years after the family “found” the mighty Oncidium that they would again uncover another stallion who would become an elite Australasian sire. PER INCANTO has been a standout since arriving at LA in 2011. Leading first season sire at the 2014 Sydney Classic Sale, he backed up his sale ring popularity taking first season sire honours in the 2014/15 season and finishing runner-up on the 2YO sires premiership. That momentum has continued with more leading sire awards culminating in nine Group 1 winners, 33 stakes winners and over $100 million in total progeny earnings as at May 2025.

Per Incanto is the leading NZ stallion on the 2024/25 Australian Sires Premiership with prize money earnings of over AUS$8 million, and as at May 2025 he leads the Centaine Award with the most worldwide stake earnings for the season of a NZ sire, a title that has been held by the Waikato Sud colossus Savabeel since 2015.

Per Incanto’s Roch N Horse, Jimmysstar and Gringotts have won five of Australia’s leading Group 1 sprinting contests

2018 saw the arrival of the dual Gr.2 winning TIME TEST (Dubawi-Passage of Time by Dansili) bringing the potent SUPERSIRE Dubawi bloodline to N.Z. Shuttling alternative seasons to the English National Stud, Time Test has sired 61 domestic winners as at May 6, 2025, headlined by the stakes winner Leedox.

Although Time Test was sold to the National Stud in Turkey in 2024, his influence downunder looks sure to be felt for some time with the likes of the multiple Group placed Connello, Cheval Du Foudre, Jon Ol Rocco and Spot On Time serious contenders for black type and Cups racing in 2025/26. Also, his daughters look sure to breed on with their father having such a deep Juddmonte pedigree.