Te Akau Friday Update

David writes:

I would like to start off by saying a huge thank you to all our owners who have written or contacted us over the last week or so. During these difficult times that we are all facing, your kindness and care have been greatly appreciated - we really do have the best owners in the world.

Even though we are into our fourth week of lockdown, I can honestly say I don't think we have ever worked so hard - so we have plenty of news to report on!

Our first item of fantastic news to report is that this week, the farm has had the most beautiful rain it has welcomed in ages - you can just see the fertiliser working!

In the first week of March, we put 600 tons of super phosphate and 500 tons of lime on, while last week we applied 100 tons of urea - the grass is just exploding! We are heading towards winter in very good shape.

This week we sold 144 tail-end lambs that weighed 18.7kg and we only have 100 left to sell. 

We still have about 140 steers yet to sell before winter (which equates to four units of cattle), and they are currently grazing on beautiful feed to keep them in optimum condition. 

We are really proud with the way in which our shares in yearlings have been snapped up this year. We have only a six shares now available in three high class fillies.

It's always intriguing for me - I have watched the shares sell so fast and our yearlings are all fantastic youngsters, and there is no rhyme nor reason as to why the final two or three have some shares remaining - though not many!!

The yearlings with shares available are turning out to be real rippers. I have never been able to work out why some horses are slower than others to sell. But as our track record over the last couple of years proves - the last to sell tend to be incredibly successful!

All of these three 2020 yearlings have either been broken in or are currently being broken in, so I know what the team thinks of them - each is showing huge promise and I am very confident in saying this trio can win Group 1's - our Head Breaker reckons there's the next Probabeel here for sure.

Karyn has taken a share in all three of our fillies who still have shares available, including the I Am Invincible from the Magic Millions' sale. 

This is a filly that I am particularly fond of, the I am Invincible filly, out of Berimbau. She has a beautiful pedigree and has been an absolute star during her early education process.

The other two fillies who I also hold in very high regard are the Savabeel/Baby Shacks and the Savabeel/Lady Tatia girls. Again, they have very limited shares available.

Both are very promising fillies and are handling everything with professionalism.

Speaking of shares, we have some VERY exciting news to announce - we have just sold 75% of stable star, Karaka Million and Group 1 Sistema Stakes' winner Cool Aza Beel to a group of very successful Australian breeders for stud duties. This colt will continue to race in the tangerine and will be trained for his career by Jamie Richards. Upon finishing his racing career, the breeders will purchase the remaining 25% when he is retired to stud. 

Our Spring targets for Cool Aza Beel will be the Hawkes Bay Guineas and then we will head to the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas and have him ready for the Karaka 3YO Million is January - that's right, we are aiming for back to back wins! Following this, we will then look to Melbourne where we have several big 3YO races in our sights. 

We also bought a beautiful colt that was entered in the Sydney sale. Pictured below, he is a full brother to Werther (Horse of the Year in Hong Kong) and his full sister Toffee Tongue ran second last Saturday in the Group 1 Oaks in Sydney.

What has genuinely impressed me over the last few weeks is the quality of yearlings we have finished breaking in. Like I have said, they are easily the best I have ever seen, and we can't wait to get them into the stable - which should hopefully be very shortly if everyone keeps behaving and sticking to their bubble!

We are all very excited about the new racing season, and while the last season has been a ripper, we plan on coming back bigger and better than ever. 

Looking into the spring, we are going to have a big presence in Melbourne. We may have up to five horses for the Group 1 Cox Plate - our classy Te Akau Shark, Probabeel and Melody Belle. They have already won Group 1 races in Australia this season, plus we will look to have our Group 1 winners and performers Avantage and Prise de Fer also ready for this race.

I am picking Prise de Fer to be the big improver for this up-coming season. All these horses that I have mentioned have performed with distinction this season and all were purchased from Karaka - don't forget that! 

Regardless of when racing does actually return in New Zealand, it is fair to say that our trainer, Jamie Richards, has well and truly won the NZ Trainers' Premiership this season. What an effort from him and all our team at Te Akau - well done and thank you.

Currently Jamie sits on 99 wins for the NZ season (plus three Group 1 wins in Australia) - this is a domestic lead of 27 wins. Te Akau has won 17 NZ Group/Listed races (that's 10 more than the next stable) with a total of 11 Group 1 victories for the season (three in Australia). With an outstanding strike rate of 4.8, Te Akau has also won over $7 million in prize money for our owners this season!

I would also like to reiterate how grateful I am to our owners - your support has just been massive during these difficult times. Thank you so much.

We have to look at the positive of this lockdown, and that is we are giving all our horses a very good spell. They are rugged up and very much enjoying the lush green Te Akau grass - we provide only the best for our "residents" here.

Thank you everyone, this last season has been great but for the 2020/21 season watch out, as we will be ready to fire! 

GO THE TANGERINE!!!

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