Te Akau Monday Update
Date: 12 Nov 2018
David writes:
It was a very busy, but very rewarding weekend for both Karyn and me.
We travelled to Christchurch on Friday and took all the team who are looking after the horses there out for dinner. Upon arriving, it was raining and seven degrees at 3pm in the afternoon, however, that didn't dampen our spirits.
My good friend Dave McCarthy picked me up from the hotel and took me out to Riccarton where I enjoyed inspecting all the horses that we have there. I was super impressed with how they all looked.
Saturday arrived, and it truly was a lovely morning. Paul Richards galloped Te Akau Shark on the course proper at 6.15am and told me the track was a 7 in his opinion. A guy who has ridden over 1000 winners would have a very good idea on what he was talking about, so we were staggered when the Club posted a Heavy10.
We had hired a private box at Riccarton and invited our South Island owners in for complimentary drinks and food. Karyn and I were thrilled to have so many owners join us. We love catching up with everybody and talking about their horses and future plans.
It was also fantastic to see Conclusion win on the day for his owners Paul and Leanne Richards and Ray Chalklin. Conclusion was purchased as a young horse by Jamie for his parents. Saturday's win turned out to be a real family affair, as Conclusion was strapped by Jamie's sister, Libby Richards.
The winning run didn't stop at Riccarton. Sunday saw another win and two second placings from only three runners at Hawkes Bay. But the weekend's highlight didn't arrive until about 9pm last night, when Mark Walker trained the winner of the $1.35 million Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup. It was an incredible training performance from Mark and Gus. The horse, Elite Invincible, had missed a fair bit of work, and a vital lead up race after spiking a temperature about four weeks ago.
Mark actually started the night with a quinella earlier on the programme with Alamosa Express, who we train for Dr Ron Boet, getting up. That must have been a sign of great things to come! So our wonderful weekend of racing finished on a real high. Congratulations Mark on an amazing performance.
Special too is the fact that Elite Invincible's Group 1 win (his second Group 1 with Mark) became Mark's 50oth Singapore winner. Another huge milestone we are all very proud of. Mark won five New Zealand Trainers' Premierships before heading to Singapore in late 2010 and has since won two there as well.
On Sunday while Karyn headed further south to spend precious time with her Mum who has dementia, I returned to the Waikato and was fortunate to have dinner with the former trainer of Torcedor, Jessie Harrington. This remarkable lady trains 160 horses in Ireland. It was so interesting listening to how she trains her horses - you certainly don't stop learning in this industry.
Meantime on the farm, we had 25mls of rain over the weekend, which was really welcomed in Te Akau. For the first time in a while, we have had a surplus of feed. The farm just looks amazing. Another change we have made this year is planting a summer crop. It really is exciting watching the seedlings break through for their first glimpse of daylight. This crop is called Plantain, which is a brilliant summer crop to finish lambs on.
With the recent rain, we haven't been able to finish shearing but we are going to fill the shed up tonight. All the hoggets and lambs have been shorn but we still have around 1,700 ewes to go.
Wherever I seem to go, it never ceases to amaze me how everyone is still so interested in how Gingernuts is doing. Well I can tell you he is a very contented horse. We have been approached by Clubs who want him to appear on race days to lead out their big races. We will also use him as a lead pony when we break in the yearlings - he will be a wonderful influence on young horses.
Gingernuts just loves being ridden and is certainly one happy horse. He has been going out on the farm each day for a trot and canter - he looks amazing.
Tomorrow I make my way back down to Christchurch to watch our horses run on Group 2 Coupland's Mile day. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to win the race sponsored by Ray Coupland. Ray is a legend of the turf, and Te Akau has won nine Group Ones for him and Jill over the years. We of course are lining Te Akau Shark up in this event.
Also coming to Christchurch is Australian rugby league legend, Cronulla Sharks' Captain Paul Gallen, who has a share in Te Akau Shark - the NZ $1.50 favourite. We have Quattro Katie, Unfazed, Bak Da Master and Remington running as well.
Well done to the Canterbury Jockey Club (CJC) on what is shaping up to be a great carnival. Tim Mills, the CEO of the CJC, is one of the very the best in the business - a passionate, hard working man who is doing a great job.
After Wednesday, my whole focus is on the Ready to Run sale.
Don't forget this is the sale that we bought Gingernuts, Hall of Fame and Te Akau Shark from. Horses we purchase at this sale sell incredibly quickly and I have already seen the next Te Akau Shark. If you want to be involved, you will need to be in contact sooner rather than later to ensure you don't miss out.