Te Akau Midweek Update

David writes:

Another busy and exciting week on the farm with lots of our owners coming to see the yearlings that they have bought in to.  We really enjoy showing people around the farm and take them to see all of the colts and fillies that we purchased from both the Gold Coast Sale and Karaka.

We have also been busy on the farm as we are putting on 550 tons of lime this week to top up the 200 tons that we applied just before Christmas.  We are great believers in both lime and super phosphate and each year we do extensive soil testing to tell us exactly what is required.  I put a ton of quality lime to the acre and do a fifth of the farm each year.

We are also busy with organisation as next week we take over another 225 acres and we have a bridge going in to provide easy access for the fertiliser trucks.  We will be spreading metal to provide a good road through the farm and will be busy spraying thistles and doing fencing so it's certainly all go at the moment for all the team at Te Akau Stud.

If that's not enough we are handling mares and foals and of course our breaking team is busy with our yearlings.  The first team of breakers has headed into the stable having finished their breaking - and the next group is underway.   Next week we will begin to wean all the foals as well.

In the past week we have also sent three units of bulls to the freezing works and two units of steers (a unit is 35 cattle) plus 300 fat lambs.  We send all our cattle to Greenlea in Hamilton - it is one of the best companies I deal with - top quality staff and a company with very good community contribution.

We have a strong team to race at our "home track" at Matamata on Saturday.  Heroic Valour and Sassy 'N' Smart line up in the two year old stakes' races and they have been working up really well, the pair.  We have also been very busy organising Xtravagant's trip to Melbourne - he is in great order for what will be the first of many trips overseas for him I hope.

There has been a lot of talk about Xtravagant going to Royal Ascot.  He will go if he keeps improving but it won't be this year because, even though he is only three, he would be weighted as a four year old in the Northern Hemisphere but we are really keen - if he keeps improving as I say - to take him there next year.

Another horse that looks like he is also heading up the ladder is Bordeaux.  All this horse needed was a bit of time and we were thrilled that his team of owners understood and supported our thinking as we are confident of him going to the next level in the next 12 months.  This half brother to the Frankel colt who topped the Karaka Premier Sale last month has now won four of his last six starts.

The colt I am selling shares in this week is Lot 436 a striking Pour Moi colt out of the Group winning mare November Rain.

Let me start by telling you about Pour Moi, this colt's sire. He is a great-grandson of Northern Dancer. Pour Moi himself is by Montjeu, who is by Sadler's Wells. Pour Moi was an incredibly successful racehorse, winning the Group 1 English Derby. About two years ago, Sam Boyd (who was our farm manager) and I went to see Pour Moi and he is one of the most beautiful stallions you will ever set eyes on. In fact he is probably one of the best-actioned horses I have ever seen - he uses himself beautifully. So I was very keen to buy his progeny when they arrived at the sale as yearlings for the first time 12 months ago.

Every Pour Moi we have galloped is showing ability in training and all the trainers that I spoke to at the Karaka Sale were impressed with his progeny. This is the year to buy his yearlings (and we also have a gun Pour Moi filly with a handful of shares remaining too) - next year his off-spring will be much more expensive, mark my words.

This colt's pedigree has a double-up of Northern Dancer as this colt's dam November Rain is by Stravinsky, who is by Nureyev, who is by Northern Dancer. Stravinsky and Nureyev are both wonderful broodmare sires. November Rain was a top drawer race mare and one of the best racehorses of her time. She was a Group 2 winner who was also runner up in both the Group 1 Easter Handicap and Group 1 NZ Oaks as well as the Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic. Mark Walker rates this colt as one of the very best we bought from Karaka. Our colt is a stunner and looks to my eye to be the next Xtravagant for Te Akau Racing and his new owners. In a nutshell “he looks the goods” - a simply gorgeous colt and I don't say that too often!

A 10% share in this stunner is $30,000 plus GST - a 5% share is $15,000 plus GST - contact us now!  If you want some real excitement in your life then treat yourself to a colt we hope will be our next Xtravagant!