Te Akau "Home Breds" Hooning!

Te Akau principal David Ellis and Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM bred two winners a week ago in Singapore, and had another when Hello Michelle (3 f Minstrel Court - Paixanito, by Zabeel) recorded her fourth win on Sunday 18 June in the $60,000 Spalato Stakes (Class 4, 1100m) on the poly track.

Two-year-old Burgundy (Redoute's Choice) filly Bringer of War and Super Genius, a three-year-old filly by Alamosa (O'Reilly), were the two recent winners and it was premiership leading trainer Mark Walker that also prepared Hello Michelle.

“Hello Michelle (main picture) is a filly by a stallion (Minstrel Court) that I bought as a yearling colt on the Gold Coast in 2007 for $100,000, at the June sale,” Ellis said.

“Minstrel Court won his first start as a two year old with ridiculous ease. Mark (Walker) trained him to win the Matamata Slipper (Listed, 1200m) and he finished third to his stable-mate Tell A Tale (Tale Of the Cat) in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) when Craig Newitt came over to ride him from Australia.

“He was a pretty serious racehorse and we bred this filly out of a Zabeel mare. She showed a lot of promise in training, won both her trials really well as a two year old, and Steve (Autridge) and Jamie (Richards) thought she was a very promising filly.

“Mark (Walker) asked me to find a smart horse for one of his good owners in Singapore, and she fitted the bill perfectly for what they wanted.”

Hello Michelle has never finished further back than fourth in all but four of her sixteen starts, winning $186,400 in prize money, and powering home from the rear to register a 2 ½ length victory suggests there is plenty more to come.

“The trainers told me the first time they galloped her that she looked quite special and she won like a really good horse last night,” Ellis said.

“Hello Michelle was the first of two winners that Mark had last night. He also won the following race with Star Genius (Starcraft) and he's now absolutely on fire - he should be carrying a fire extinguisher around with him - because what he's done in the last couple of weeks is quite incredible. He's had thirteen winners in that time and now sixteen ahead in the trainer's premiership.

“It's an unbelievable achievement and his whole team are in such great form, including his apprentice Zawari who rode Hello Michelle and is only one off the lead in the apprentice jockey premiership and of course Suppy (Shafiq) who is riding so well too."

Ellis also reflected on a breeding system that sees their mares covered by stallions that he has previously purchased as yearling colts.

“Karyn and I like to breed to the stallions at stud that I've bought, if the mating looks suitable, and we like to support the studs that stand these colts,” he said.

“We have some good first crop Rock ‘n' Pop (Fastnet Rock) progeny to race this coming season as three year olds. He hasn't had a two year old winner as yet, but that doesn't surprise me at all because he wasn't a two year old type himself and he's from a really good Sir Tristram staying family.

“We have a number of really promising Rock ‘n' Pop horses in the stable. A couple of impressive trial winner at two that we've taken along quietly, but you can see in them now the development they're making between two and three is quite remarkable so we're really looking forward to racing them next season.”