Per Incanto mare Roch ‘N’ Horse (Per Incanto-Rochfort by Cecconi) produced one of the greatest ever performances by a New Zealand sprinter when she annexed her second Group 1 sprint down the famous Flemington straight when winning the A$3.2 million 1200m Group 1 VRC Darley Champions Sprint at WFA on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival on Saturday.
Expected to be a match race between the last two winners of The Everest, Giga Kick and Nature Strip, the later regarded as the world’s best sprinter, “Rochy’ as she’s affectionately known, once again showed distain for reputations just as she had when winning the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap earlier this year.
Cheered on by her large group of owners, many who had missed her stunning victory in the Newmarket, Roch ‘N’ Horse had to be good to win, getting no cover for the final half of the race but still surging home over the top of the best sprinters in Australia.
Bred and part-owned by LA, Roch ‘N’ Horse is one of 24 stakes winners for her sire Per Incanto, who is represented by seven lots at the NZB RTR Sale at Karaka on 16 and 17 November.
Meanwhile, the farm almost landed a historic double when just an hour earlier at Riccarton, Desert Lightning (Pride of Dubai – Isstora by High Chaparral) was beaten a nose in the 1600m Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas. Bred by the Mahoenui Partnership, Desert Lightning was a $150,000 purchase by his trainers Dawn and Peter Williams from the LA draft at the 2021 NZB Karaka Book 1 Sale.