Te Akau Friday Update

Date: 23 Mar 2018

Te Akau Friday Update
David writes:

Gosh the week has disappeared quickly and it is Friday already!  There has been so much happening over the past few days - and undoubtedly one of the exciting days was last Saturday.

We took a team to Trentham and to see Paulownia, a full sister to Foxwedge who we train for Coolmore Stud, almost snare the Group 2 Wellington Guineas at only her second start - wow what a terrific achievement.  She was nutted right on the line by the vastly more experienced Karaka 3YO Million winner Scott Base who had been the Group 1 NZ Derby favourite before a setback.  Heroic Valour also posted one of the most impressive final sectionals seen for some time when roaring home for second in the Group 3 Te Akau Racing Lightning Handicap - both of these horses started from wide barriers so their efforts were particularly meritorious.

The winning continued however on Saturday at the Rotorua meeting where Unfazed, the last Zabeel filly who we train for Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan, was impressive in saluting the judge in the Hogan's famous colours (on St Patrick's Day too)!  Then it was our Singapore stable underlining the winning theme as Mark Walker and our Kranji team also posted yet another winner on Sunday.

Yesterday we had a most enjoyable afternoon at Te Akau Stud with the owners of my 2018 Colt and also our 2018 Filly breeding syndicates.  Karyn and I were proud to parade these six yearlings - three colts and three fillies for each syndicate.

The fillies' syndicate comprises:

the Savabeel/Joy's Choice filly
the I Am Invincible/Mabsam filly
the Not A Single Doubt/Meleka Belle filly
The colts' syndicate is made up of:

the Snitzel/Floria colt
the Savabeel/Katie Lee colt
the Exceed and Excel/Our Ella Belle colt
Today we will start breaking these six yearlings in at Te Akau Stud - it is certainly a very exciting time as we begin the path to uncovering their racing potential.  All of our yearlings this year have done exceptionally well since the sale.

We were also pleased to have Jamie Richards, our co-trainer, and Mason Stevens join us yesterday. Mason is in charge of one of our stables at the racecourse and he looked after Gingernuts so he was very happy to see "Jerry" looking so fit and well.  Another filly in Mason's stable is Avantage who is just thriving as she prepares for the Group 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes at Awapuni tomorrow week - where our Karaka Million winner will face off against two of her stable mates, last start Group 1 winner Sword of Osman and also stakes' placed Handsome Rebel.

The big news today from Te Akau is that our European based horse Torcedor left Ireland at 2.30am this morning NZ time on route to Dubai for the World Cup meeting.  This very exciting stayer was purchased by me as a yearling at the Deauville Sale in France for 70,000 euros and is already a Group winner and has performed with distinction at the highest level in the United Kingdom.

As I mentioned earlier, the winners keep coming and it was great to see Princess Davone get the win she richly deserved this week.  This mare has always shown plenty of ability but without having much luck.   Jamie and I bought her out of the paddock for a really good price and she has now won four races and has numerous black type placings to her credit.

This weekend our focus is on Sydney and Karyn is going over today to attend Rosehill tomorrow to represent the team.  We have two horses in the A$600,000 Group 1 Rosehill Guineas which we won last year with Gingernuts.  Mongolianconqueror, who was beaten a lip in our Group 1 NZ Derby will be ridden by Te Akau stable rider Opie Bosson while Jason Collett continues his association with our Group 1 Levin Classic winner Age of Fire.  Unfortunately both horses have drawn the carpark at 15 and 21 respectively which isn't ideal.  We are also hoping for a good track and that the forecast Sydney rain stays away. Stephen Autridge is in Sydney putting the finishing touches on our two horses, who have also been enjoying some ocean work this past week with Dan Miller and Tegan Newman as you will see in our main photo.

On the farm we have also been very busy - we have been selling cattle each day and last night we had 7mls of rain - not a lot but certainly better than nothing - it looks like a bit more is coming over the weekend too which will be great to help wash in all the fertiliser we have just put on.

This week Karyn also announced that she would not renew her contract with the NZ Racing Board's Trackside programme Weigh In when the season ends.  Karyn made this decision based on a number of factors including her demanding Te Akau life, her new grand daughter and of course her Mum now needing full-time dementia care.  Karyn is her only child and it has been a really tough time this year with this decision.  I have huge respect for the decision Karyn has made to depart from Trackside on her own terms - it wasn't easy for her after almost 26 years of television.  She really enjoys broadcasting and especially the time she spends with the tight-knit team she has worked with over those years, and continues to work closely with.  We have been blown away by the messages of kindness, so many people have expressed their support and respect for Karyn and her time with Trackside and we both want to thank everyone for such wonderful words.  They really have meant a lot.

Have a great weekend and GO THE TANGERINE!

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