3-Venue Saturday Black Type Attack - Te Akau Friday Update

David writes:

It's been another full-on week for everyone at Te Akau and the good news is that there is supposedly some rain coming.  About 25mls in the next few days is forecast and that will be a massive help to the farm.

We have a very busy few days coming up as well - tomorrow our Matamata stable will have runners in stakes' races (and other races too) at all three New Zealand venues - Ellerslie, Trentham and Riccarton.

Our trainer Jamie Richards has made a cracking start to his solo training career.  This season Te Akau horses have paid a dividend, on average, every second start and a winning dividend every 3.8 starts this season.  We have now won over $750,000 in stakes for our owners and very importantly, Te Akau now won two Group 1 races, two Group 2 races and two Group 3 races this season already.

These really are exciting times and it really also reflects on the amazing team we have and I am so proud of them all.

It was great to be on course at Te Rapa last Monday and we all got so much pleasure out of seeing Sword of Osman win the Group 2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes.  I watched the very close finish with Jamie in our box at the top of the grandstand and he rode the horse we call call "Beauden" even harder than Opie!  I know the angle pretty well at Te Rapa and I told Jamie we had won, or at the worst dead-heated, the race and luckily I was correct.

Sword of Osman is yet another top horse I have purchased from the draft of Trelawney Stud - one of the great nurseries in the world.  He was bred by Mrs Joan Egan and what a thrill to breed such a good horse, she must be so proud.  We know how passionate she is about thoroughbred breeding.

So while we are flat out at the stables (and we have just cheered home another winner as I write - Witchery who we train for Gerry Harvey) it's no different at Te Akau Stud.  Next week we have 6000 sheep to shear, 3000 lambs to shear and our first fat lamb draft.

Best of luck to all our owners with horses racing this weekend - GO THE TANGERINE!!