Te Akau Midweek Update

David writes:

Gosh the weather forecasters drive me nuts!  Every week rain is forecast and nine times out of ten it never arrives.  It is frustrating for the farm and for Te Akau Racing too.

We have rain forecast for the weekend and then Clubs don't water the tracks and the rain doesn't arrive and the tracks are too firm for many horses!  I am sure this is one of the reasons that the fields are so small at the moment.

Vive La Difference is a classic example of this situation - she is a filly that has heaps of ability but she does not like firm tracks so we have had to scratch her in order to wait for a track with some decent give in it.  Fortunately she has fantastic owners with whom we communicate constantly so they understand!  Of course this situation tests the patience of everyone.  Overall a situation frustrating for Clubs, for trainers, for owners, for riders.   However at the end of the day we will always do what is best for the filly herself - and all our horses in this position.

We are still selling shares each day to our current owners and this year we have lots of first time owners who Karyn and I have really enjoyed meeting and showing their horses to at the farm - and we have plenty that we haven't met yet, and eagerly look forward to getting to know.

We have a few shares remaining and the amazing thing is the success of the horses in whom the shares are the last to sell each year.

By way of example - Alpha Centauri was one of the last to sell in his year and he has won his last two starts in Singapore - he cost $60,000 and has earned $220,000!  Just last week a horse called Storm Trooper won a $75,000 race in Singapore after two really good second placings and he was one of the last to sell!

Overall we have sold 95% of the shares in our horses so if you would like to be involved you need to be quick!

One colt I can really recommend is the colt by Savabeel out of Kay's Awake - he possesses a beautiful pedigree and is a simply outstanding type of colt.  This bloke could win a Derby or a Melbourne Cup.  A 10% share is only $15,000 plus GST or a 5% share would be $7500 plus GST - his half brother races in Singapore and has won three of his five starts for almost $150,000 in prizemoney.

All of the fertiliser and lime has now been applied to the farm - in total about 400 tons of super phosphate and 280 tons of lime s all we want is some rain and the farm will explode!