Ellis Extends Dominance - 14th Year Leading Buyer

At the completion of Karaka Book 1, Te Akau principal David Ellis retained his leading buyer status for the 14^th consecutive year at the 93^rd New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales Series.

New Zealand Bloodstock principal
Sir Peter Vela, managing director Andrew Seabrook, and Chairman Joe Walls, are
fully aware of the impact and benefits this brings.

“David's contribution can't be
overstated,” Sir Peter said. “He's led the buying brigade for 14 years from all
countries at the sale in terms of numbers and value.

“It's an invaluable contribution,
not only to the sale itself but to the racing industry in New Zealand in
general that we get an opportunity to see these horses race on home soil.”

“It's hard to put David's
contribution into words,” Seabrook said. “It's massive for both the sale and
the racing industry and he bought more than 10 percent of the catalogue in
terms of value and a total of 41 horses. It's an immeasurable input.

“I don't think they'd be a sale
in the world where one buyer spends more than 10 percent of the catalogue of a
premier type sale and done mainly on spec. It's quite amazing.

“Being able to buy that number
shows there is demand from people wanting to race horses and that it remains a
massive part of the culture and enjoyment in this country.

“David is a tireless worker. Him,
Karyn, Jamie, Libby, Julia-Rose, and the team, they have brilliant
communication and even now they have a ‘live chat' on their website, where
people can go in and ask questions and they'll come back straightaway. I think
that's very innovative and a great tool.

“And most importantly, their
record speaks for itself and I'm sure that by winning (for the third time in
succession) and having the first three in the Karaka Million on Saturday no
doubt helps their cause.”

David Ellis said: “When I went to
the sales, we'd done a huge amount of homework and as I'd said beforehand I was
unbelievably impressed with the quality of horses this year as a result of the
rainfall and terrific growing conditions we've experienced in New Zealand.

“When I saw that reflected in the
quality, I thought I'd be very strong, buy a lot of horses, and take advantage
of the fantastic quality that was there. These yearlings were weaned on the
best grass possible. They've got terrific bone and just well developed, mature,
yearlings.

“I'm absolutely stoked because
these colts and fillies that we've bought are the future of New Zealand racing
and believe me they are of the highest quality.

“It's also a huge advantage for
me when you've got the likes of Cambridge Stud and Waikato Stud sending every
yearling they've bred to the sale, and it shows their support and belief in
everything about the New Zealand industry. We have fantastic people involved
and it's a wonderful industry that with the help of our Racing Minister
(Winston Peters) will continue heading in the right direction and getting
stronger.

“We've bought horses from 18
different vendors, which just shows how many people are turning their horses
out in magnificent order, and these horses will be racing for the next four or
five seasons, and more, and then hopefully go on to make an impact as stallions
and broodmares. It's imperative that we retain horses of this quality because
in time they become the backbone of our industry.”

Ellis is fully aware that
training operations like Te Akau Racing and the preparation and spelling at Te
Akau Stud, and buying horses, takes an enormous input from so many talented and
experienced people.

“I've had Jamie (Richards)
helping me and we finished up with a really good shortlist. And Mark Walker,
our trainer in Singapore, who's a fantastic judge of horses, went around with
us and triple checked that we'd got everything right. With our vet Douglas
Black, help from Joe Walls and Danny Rolston at NZB, we make sure there is no
margin for error at the initial buying stage and the results of our purchases
is fantastic. We were able to buy what we wanted to.”

From the sales grounds at the
Karaka, Ellis reported the yearlings have now arrived at Te Akau Stud.

“All the horses have arrived
safely at Te Akau Stud, and all ate up last night,” he said. “It was great to
see them when going around the farm this morning and we now have owners coming
out each day to have a look at what we've bought and to invest in these
magnificent yearlings.

“Interested new parties are
welcome to get in touch and we love introducing new people to horse ownership,
keeping them informed through our communications, and celebrating the success
of the horses they get involved in.

“We buy most of these horses on
spec, so now the work begins in order to find owners for all of them. We all
work very hard to get the job done, but the rewards are certainly there when
the horses win. I never get sick of winning races and seeing the joy that it
brings to our owners.

“It's hard to think we could
achieve all this without the unbelievable job that my wife, Karyn (Fenton-Ellis
MNZM), has done. She has a huge involvement on the administrative and
communicative side of Te Akau. She's very professional, has an amazing work
ethic and organisational skills and she's incredibly popular with our owners.
It wouldn't happen without her.”

New Zealand Bloodstock Chairman
Joe Walls said: “Anyone that can put ten Savabeel's into their stable in one
season is pretty lucky and in my 45-year career with NZB I've never seen one
person ever buy so many nice horses. It's the best lot of horses David has ever
bought and there are some outstanding colts and fillies amongst them.

“He's done an enormous job with
the colts and fillies in the midrange and I was somewhat stunned by the amount
of quality horses he was able to buy in the $50 - $60,000 range - and some for
less. He's done very, very well.

“I've never seen anyone come to a
sale and buy that amount of horses from the premier session, it was an awesome
achievement. I think he and Jamie and the team have picked very astutely and I
think he's paid very astutely too.

“It's absolutely paramount that
the stable is firing and Jamie (Richards) has hit the headlines in a big way.
He's young, he's enthusiastic, he's obviously able to train horses and people
like him. He's being supported by breeders and owners that are giving him their
horses to train.

“He had an early season success with
stakes winner with Melody Belle, who quickly added two Group Ones and the
stakes and group winners have continued since the spring. Jamie is such a nice
guy. He's intelligent, well liked, well respected amongst his peers and he's a
good judge of a horse.

“I've been with David and Jamie
when they're inspecting horses, and Jamie shows a very good eye for a horse.
He's not scared to share his own opinion and it's not often wrong, either, so
all that wrapped up in one is a pretty good formula for success.”

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