Te Akau Christmas Eve Update

David writes:

There was a very early start at Te Akau Stud this morning as we push ahead to get all the work done before Christmas.  Topping, fencing, drenching and a lot of stock movements.

Jamie Richards has arrived here following track work to help work the horses training at the stud.  One of the horses I am enjoying working is the jumper Brer who won his last two starts at Riccarton in brilliant fashion during the Grand National Carnival.  He is a really exciting horse and it is thrilling to watch him working around the farm and loving every minute of it.  Brer is a big, 16.1 and a half hands, really solid and he adores working over our hills, you can just see how much he is enjoying it.

This year has been a wonderful year for Te Akau in New Zealand and in Singapore - we have trained well over 100 winners.  We have bought some really good horses and it is going to be exciting to see them racing in the next few weeks.  We have a lovely group of horses to race at Ellerslie on Boxing Day - almost one in every race.

Two horses that I am looking forward to seeing step out include Imperium who will race at Ellerslie on its middle day.  He will run on 28 December and then we also have Rockfast who contests the Group 2 Great Northern  Guineas on New Year's Day with James McDonald aboard.

The filly that Fortuna bought from Karyn and me - Windborne - is absolutely flying in her work and it will take a really good horse to beat her in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes on New Year's Day.

This is a race that Te Akau has had a lot of luck with over the years - we won it first with Te Akau Class (a Masterclass colt) about 20 years ago and more recently of course with Warhorse.

We have also had a good year on the farm and we have been blessed with the rain we have had in the last month, it has been a massive help.  Of course then the beef prices were at record levels so that was very exciting for me too!

I am unbelievably lucky that we have such an amazing team of people who work for us in Matamata, in Singapore and here at the farm - and we are very grateful because they work extremely hard and work long hours - and this of course is one of the busiest times of the year.  it always makes us smile a little when people ask "so where are you going away for your Christmas break?".

So to all our team thank you for a great year and for your dedication and commitment to making 2014 so successful  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families.

To the most important people in the industry, our owners - congratulations on being part of the Te Akau team and thank you for your staunch loyalty and support.  It is really appreciated by Mark Walker, Karyn and me and I wish you a happy Christmas from us all - as well as health and happiness in 2015 never forgetting the very best of luck too with your horses in the New Year.

Festive greetings and we are looking forward to seeing you at the Boxing Day races and New Year's Day.