Happy Birthday To Our Horses!

Another special part of today is that on 1 August we can wish every Te Akau horse a VERY happy BIRTHDAY! It’s celebration day as all of our special horses officially turn one year older, regardless of their specific birthdate.

Our weanlings become yearlings, our yearlings become 2YOs with their sights set on the likes of the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (we've won seven), Group 1 Sistema and Manawatu Sires.

Our juveniles join the 3YO ranks, eyeing iconic age races such as the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas, NZ 1000 Guineas, Levin Classic, NZ Derby and NZ Oaks. Then there is the hugely exciting new The NZB Kiwi slot race which Te Akau holds a slot for. We will be hunting down another TAB Karaka Millions 3YO and more.

Our 3YO fillies graduate to the rank of mare, and our colts (if they are still that lucky) become horses or entires. However, once a gelding, always a gelding!

Yes, today every horse becomes one year older in the southern hemisphere. Down here, we’ve got 1 August to mark the standardised birthday for every horse, while northern hemisphere equines celebrate their special day on 1 January.

The date, based on the equine breeding season, is used to standardise the industry, particularly horse racing, which uses the date to put horses in their age grades for races.

Standardising the age of horses was essential for the racing industry. As one commentator noted: “It is a little bit like kids in school. You have to have a single date you can use to make it more uniform. Say a horse is born today — the first of August — he or she will race with horses from now until the end of November, December. That puts them all in the same age group. It is very important to have restrictive races for age”

Today is also an important day for the whole industry, falling just before Spring as it kicks off the new breeding year. The foaling season has started now, and the serving of mares can begin on the first of September.

There is exciting news every month about stakes' increases in New Zealand - innovations such as the new Champion Middle Distance and Champion Sprint Series which will will attract a total of $1 million in bonuses. There's a boost of $2.2 million to 13 Group 1 races, $920,000 to 13 Group 2 races and $775,000 to 12 Group 3 events.

Exciting too, Te Akau's Australian stable is going great guns with one of the best strike rates in metropolitan Victoria. With our South Island stable a massive success story too - options abound for all our horses and our owners!

Happy Birthday to all of Te Akau’s lovely equine team in New Zealand, Australia, and for the final months in Singapore!