Te Akau Friday Update

David writes:

It has been a busy morning at Te Akau Stud today - we have 12 horses in work here and five that we are breaking in, including two fillies from the Gold Coast that have settled in particularly well.  The Flying Spur filly that we bought for A$46,000 is a stunning filly and really impresses me while the Snitzel filly that I bought at the sale for Goodwood Stud is also trying hard to please and has the makings of being a nice 2YO.

Today I am out on the road looking to buy some more horses - first stop is Mana Park where I am going to look at a Darci Brahma filly who is for sale and then on to Waikato Stud to look at an O'Reilly colt and whilst there, I am of course going to inspect one my favourite horses in Rock 'n' Pop.

It is now nine and a half years since I decided on a business plan to identify and buy top yearling colts that Mark and now Jason could turn into good racehorses to stand at stud in New Zealand and that would stay in New Zealand regardless of their success.  This isn't easy to achieve but I am thrilled that we now have three stallions at stud in New Zealand - with Darci Brahma standing at The Oaks for $40,000, Rock 'n' Pop at Waikato Stud for $12,000 and Burgundy at Cambridge Stud with a $7000 service fee.

Rock 'n' Pop is of course is by a truly great sire in Fastnet Rock and I will be fascinated to see how Fastnet Rock performs in Europe where his oldest progeny are now yearlings.

Rock 'n' Pop was a really superb racehorse and his win in the Group 1 2000 Guineas was the easiest win I have seen in a Group 1 race.  Leading in to the race, I had Opie Bosson all lined up to ride 'Caspar' as we know him but he couldn't make the weight so I was left wondering who to put on.  I went through all of the races at Riccarton over the last 10 years and nobody had enjoyed more success at Riccarton than Jamie Bullard - a real case of horses for courses.  Jamie had also previously won a number of good races for Te Akau including the Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup.  He is a class rider and rode Rock 'n' Pop absolutely beautifully - covering no extra ground, he went to the front at the 200m mark and Jamie never had to move on horse, winning with consummate ease.

Rock 'n' Pop is also beautifully bred, being out of the Group 1 winning Sir Tristram mare Popsy - she of course won Group 1 New Zealand Derby when trained by Dave and Paul O'Sullivan and was a really top class mare.

We expect Rock 'n' Pop to be very popular at stud and he represents great value at $12,000 plus GST.   Karyn and I will be sending 10 mares to Rock 'n' Pop this season which gives you an idea of the commitment that we have to this exciting young sire.

It's quiet on the New Zealand racing front this weekend but we do have a number of runners stepping out in Singapore as Mark Walker edges closer to his 1000 career winners milestone - only three more to come until the corks pop - I don't think we will have to wait for long!