Te Akau Friday Update

David writes:

Gee racing can be a frustrating game - there are so many things we are all dependent on that can go wrong but when they go right it is unbelievably rewarding. Yesterday we had two runners at Woodville and they both won.

I got a special thrill out of both of them for different reasons. The first winner was Imperium who I bought as part of a four colt syndicate. The owners in the syndicate are the best group of people you could ever meet and they have been so supportive even though we have had no luck this season.

Imperium has been plagued with back problems but after lots of treatment finally looks like he is improving. This horse has shown so much ability but has disappointed on raceday. He is a truly magnificent gelding and he really should go through the grades next season. He is raced by the same syndicate that own Rockfast who will race at Te Rapa in two weeks. Imperium will now spell and we will get him ready for some good races next season. Our second winner we had yesterday was Shilleagh owned by our great friend Christopher and Susanna Grace. Last year I bought a full sister to this filly that has also shown great promise for $100,000. Christopher is a pretty big farmer in the Hunterville area. The Grace's race some really good horses.

Today we have two runners at Dargaville and six runners in Singapore and tomorrow we have three runners at Ellerslie all in Group races - Vive La Difference, Abidewithme and Spellbinder, the latter two contesting the Group 1 Easter Hcp.  No Tricks lines up in a stakes' race at Riccarton as do Costa Viva and Angelica Hall at Hastings, two of our six runners at Hawkes Bay.

Our racing manager Jamie Richards is attending the South Island sale at the moment - the next sale we will be attenting is the Gold Coast sale in early June.

I am still buzzing with the Darci Brahma filly Gust of Wind winning the Group 1 Oaks in Sydney. That filly has a massive future. With the progeny of Darci it doesn't matter what distance, what track conditions or what country - they win at all distances, tracks and all jurisdictions.

They love the Darci's in Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand of course and now they have finally woken up to them in Australia. From our perspective they are so easy to sell, everybody wants one. I have had a lot of great feedback on the video on Darci from earlier in the week so for those of you who want to see a real racehorse - a Champion 2 year old, a Champion 3 year old and a Champion Sprinter/Miler as a 4 year old- then have a look at the video below:

Tomorrow I am off to Ellerslie to watch our two runners in the Group 1 and well as Vive La Difference in the Group 2 Valachi Downs Championship Stakes.  Then we are going out for dinner with friends and family.  If it is a good track, Abidewithme will be hard to beat and if the track is soft, then look out for Spellbinder.

This week has been a lot of fun. We have had owners and friends for lunch and people to stay, really good rain and the farm just looks amazing. We are still selling lots of shares in the Smart Missile filly and O'Reilly colt from Sydney. If you want to be involved in this filly you will want to be quick, there is only 20% left and I promise that she will be gone by Sunday night. See her video below:

We only have 70% of the O'Reilly colt left (below picture) and all 45 yearlings will be sold. Now that is a huge result!

On other matters - I know it is easy to sit back here at Te Akau and criticise but I would like to make this observation on the two Trackside channels. Why have the New Zealand gallops on one channel today and another channel tomorrow ??? - it is so confusing for everyone and everyone tells me this!

Yesterday pretty much as soon as the horse went across the line they crossed to the greyhounds. Now I am not anti greyhounds but when they had Beven Sweeney on course why wouldn't they interview the jockey and the trainer or their representative? I know I am a bit biased but when you have a quite impressive maiden winner, out of one of the greatest staying mares of all time in Ethereal then you would really think that would create some interest to punters, breeders and potential new owners.

Why not have one channel for gallops and one channel for Harness and Greyhounds, after all does the Rugby Channel have shows on League on it? Of course not and the reason is logical - just because you have an interest in the galloping code does not mean you have any interest in the other codes so I say come on Trackside we need to improve!