Jeff's Jaunts

You can't get away with too much at Te Akau - our Jeff may be on leave but we are lucky enough to know where he is, what he is doing - and what a time he is having!  Here is the latest update:

Te Akau racing manager Jeff Dore (pictured below pre-ball) was a guest of Magic Millions at the Autumn Shorn Ball on Saturday night in Sydney.

At the invitation of Magic Millions bloodstock consultant Paul Beamish, Jeff attended the 25^th anniversary of the ball which raises money for Redkite (a national charity that supports child cancer). First held in a woolshed in ‘Bando', Mullaley, NSW, the dinner was held at Doltone House, on Sydney Harbour.

“Five families everyday find out they have a child with cancer in Australia and we heard from a mother that just returned home after 604 consecutive days in hospital with her son,” said Dore.

“There was a great mixture of country and city folk at the ball; the lamb shanks main would have done any kiwi chef proud and we did plenty of dancing to a live band. It was a great way to spend the evening after a day racing at Randwick”.

Jeff was up at 5am on Sunday to visit Rosehill Gardens and later in the day took in an AFL game at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“I walked the straight at Rosehill and was really impressed with it as a course. I was shown around the stables of Chris Waller, watched three of his horses on the treadmill/walker and got a feeling for the systematic procedures that have seen him set a new benchmark of winners during a season in Sydney.”

The previous record of 156 metropolitan winners was set by Tommy Smith (1974-75) and equalled by his daughter Gai Waterhouse (2002-03), with the Foxton-born Waller now on 164.5 wins. 

Dore said that being able to have a drink in the members bar and sit in the members stand at the SCG was an unexpected privilege.

“In a crowd of 28,000 noisy Sydney Swans supporters the atmosphere was jubilant and last year's premiership winners proved too strong for the Richmond Tigers. Being a cricketer, it was great afterwards to stand out beside the wicket block in the middle and look around the ground. It must be an amazing place to play, especially in front of a capacity crowd,” said Dore.

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