Homeward Bound

David writes -

Well it has been an incredible holiday and we while have truly enjoyed the break, we are ready to come home and launch into the new season.

We have so much to look forward to with both of our stables and also at the farm and it is terrific to feel so refreshed and reinvigorated.

At the farm we have started lambing and we are not too far away from welcoming our first foals of the new breeding season.  We will have foals by the likes of Savabeel, O'Reilly, Darci Brahma, Burgundy, Rock 'n' Pop, Tavistock and Rip Van Winkle.  There is always plenty of buzz for everyone when we hear advice of a new arrival, and even more so when our new babies arrive back home after foaling.

Our stable in Matamata is gearing up for a huge Te Teko trials' day on 4 August - we will have a big team of very exciting young and more experienced horses taking the first main step towards their new preparations.  I have said it before and I will say it again, I do not think Te Akau Racing in New Zealand has ever had a team of this calibre across the board and I know Stephen and Jamie and the crew are ready to roar!

As our two year olds soon turn into three year olds, there is such a depth in the ranks and we are eagerly looking forward to the classic races, the NZB Filly of the Year Series and to seeing all of this promise unfold.  The young horses that we have just broken in will also continue their education this new season.  Some are already showing us the precocity needed to make early two year olds while others will take a little more time.

Our breaking in team headed by James Jackson has done a great job with our youngsters, as has the stable team that teaches them the next stages of their 'early education'.

The winning theme also continues unabated in Singapore - wasn't it just terrific to see Mark Walker train yet another winning double on Friday night?  Mark has led the Trainers' Premiership for almost the entire season and we are all hoping that he will be ahead when 31 December comes around.  He is such a training talent that it is only a matter of time until Premiership wins in Singapore come his way.

We still have some exciting horses to race in Singapore who are just going through their barrier trial requirements - such as Rockfast and Unsurpassed.  Other New Zealand horses are joining the stable on a weekly basis as owners discover the financial rewards of racing in Singapore - today we will see a horse called Touche (renamed Our Touche in Singapore) step out for the first time, The Cosmos won't be far away and there are others such as Kevin Hickman's highly talented Jimmy Rea about to resume.  We really appreciate the support that we are receiving from owners and breeders.

Karyn and I have had such a lovely time - Karyn left a week and a half before me and went with Lydia and Julia to Sicily.  The girls loved it there but Karyn says she was not so enthralled with driving on the right hand side combined with the lack of a GPS even though they had ordered one through the rental car company.  That task fell to Julia who had to sit in the front as navigator using her Iphone!

There were so many highlights for us - Royal Ascot undoubtedly the top one.  However the Irish Derby was another for me as was seeing the Te Akau tangerine colours win at The Curragh on Irish Oaks' Day, carried by a Fastnet Rock colt called Torcedor who I purchased for 70,000 euros at the Deauville Sale.  I was thrilled for Sir Peter Vela, Sir Patrick Gogan, Mohammed Moussa and Laurie Laxon who snapped up the shares in him soon after his purchase.

Spending time in London with Lydia was also special and we can't wait to welcome her home at Christmas this year for the first time in four years - she is also coming home to be bridesmaid to her great London based Kiwi friend Georgia in Wellington the week prior to Christmas.  Adding to our London fun of course were Julia and Hamish her partner.   Other great Christmas news for us is that Mark and Julia Walker and Zavier and Alexis are also coming home for their first Kiwi Christmas since they moved to Singapore in 2010.

After Europe it was definitely a lower key pace in Hawaii, our favourite place to do very little (although we stay well in touch with everything at home and especially follow the racing).  We have spent time with some special people here too including my eldest daughter Joanna who with husband Leon stayed nine days with us before their peace is broken with our grandson due in October!

It has also been great fun this week catching up with our stable rider Matt Cameron and his partner Blair Alexander and yes, we did have a celebration dinner for Matt winning back to back Jockey Premierships. This is an incredible achievement but isn't it amazing how previous Te Akau stable jockeys have also been Premiership winners - Michael Walker, James McDonald and Opie Bosson - now Matt!

So as I write we have just under 48 hours until we board the Air New Zealand flight home - it has been great and we are looking forward to being back - and Karyn can't wait to see Te Akau Kane, Tomaine and Molly either (-Ed)!