Te Akau Midweek Update

David writes:

What an incredible season it has been for Te Akau Racing! With almost eight months of the 2024/25 season behind us, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on the many amazing highlights we’ve celebrated together with our owners.

If someone had told me at the start of the season on 1 August that we would achieve the following, I might have thought they were dreaming - but here we are, some very special milestones indeed:

100 Group 1 Wins – with Return To Conquer remaining unbeaten when securing our 8th Group 1 Sistema Stakes' title on Champions' Day ... on the same day that...?

Damask Rose won the inaugural $3.5 million NZB Kiwi - and an extra $700,000 in bonuses!

Te Akau's 14th NZ Guineas' victory – with Captured By Love adding another title to our proud record: seven 1000 Guineas and seven 2000 Guineas' wins.

Te Akau's 8th Karaka Millions 2YO victory courtesy of La Dorada - the stable winning eight of the past nine editions.

Te Akau's third Karaka Millions 3YO triumph with Damask Rose flying home – our third win in six years.

The stable's third Karaka Millions double – winning both the 2YO and 3YO races on the same night!

One of our proudest moments this season was winning four races on the card, including three stakes' races, at our home track Matamata's Premier meeting – a true showcase of our team's dedication.

La Dorada (Karaka Millions 2YO winner) won the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes, becoming the first filly in history to win both this race and the Karaka Millions 2YO.  It was the stable's 10th win of this race.

Return To Conquer led a Te Akau Snitzel-colt trifecta in the Group 3 Matamata Slipper, the stable's 11th time winning the event.

What You Wish For rounded out the stakes' treble, winning the Listed Kaimai Stakes.

NZ Cup Day was another standout, as Mehzebeen stormed home to win the Group 3 NZ Cup, just a week after winning the Listed Metropolitan Trophy, and Captured By Love dominated the 1000 Guineas that same day.

Mark and Sam have now recorded 97 wins (and counting!) - an interesting fact was pointed out to me yesterday - 42% of all our runners has delivered a top three finish. Prizemoney won for our owners in New Zealand alone currently stands at $7.8 million and I am confident we will again pass the $8 million mark domestically.

Tomorrow, I’ll be at our Matamata stable to personally thank our team with a special function. Their hard work, passion and dedication are the backbone of Te Akau’s success. Racing has its highs and lows as we all know, that's why I say always celebrate the good days as there can be frustrating ones for sure.  Last weekend for example, we had six second placings but the horses all were presented in great order by our team.

I want to congratulate them all - across Te Akau Stud, and our Matamata, Riccarton and Cranbourne stables - for the incredible job they’re doing.

In November and December we hosted our owners in Christchurch and Matamata respectively, and we so enjoyed catching up with everyone, to express our huge appreciation to them personally for their loyalty.

Each Wednesday, I receive an email with the TRC Global Rankings, which measure the world’s top horses, sires, trainers, riders and owners.  I was incredibly proud to see Te Akau Syndicates ranked No.10 globally in the Owners’ rankings!

Romantic Warrior, no surprise was ranked the No.1 horse while our former stable rider James McDonald is back on top of the Global Rider rankings.  Mark and Sam come in at No.21 on the Global Trainer rankings, a terrific effort, and the only NZ trainers in the top 80.

We are down to our final shares in the 62 yearlings we purchased this season, and shares are selling incredibly fast.  I want to recommend two yearlings to you that really are commanding attention of our breakers and our trainers ... 

A stunning Wootton Bassett filly out of Pleasurable – I bought her at the Magic Millions' sale for A$360,000, ands in hindsight, she looks like an absolute steal! She has been broken in by outstanding horseman Daniel Miller, and he rates her very highly. She heads into the stable next week. If you want a strong, powerful filly with an outstanding pedigree (great future residual value), this is the one for you! 

Read more:  https://www.teakauracing.com/yearling/lot-788-wootton-bassett-gb-pleasurable-ire-bay-filly

An Exceed And Excel colt out of Eleusa – I bought him for A$240,000 also from the magic Millions' sale and he is already turning heads. Our breaker says he’s one of the best colts he has ever worked with. This Widden Stud-bred colt is bred for brilliance and speed and is in the stable and handling. everything superbly. 

Here he is:  https://teakauracing.com/yearling/lot-350-exceed-and-excel-auseleusa-aus-bay-colt

If you’re looking to add some excitement to your life, give me a ring on 021 925 151—I’d love to chat!

At Te Akau Stud, we’ve now finished weaning our foals, and they’re thriving under the expert care of Deane and our team. They’re learning to walk, be handled, and are showing serious potential.

Our Noverre and Sword of State foals are stand-outs – Sword of State’s value will have soared this past weekend, with Snitzel (his sire) producing the Group 1 Golden Slipper winner & Hong Kong Derby winners! Of course Return To Conquer, also by Snitzel, remains undefeated with four black-type wins from four starts this season. he is currently loving life spelling at the farm.

Noverre (by Savabeel) continues to impress – his yearlings were in hot demand at both Magic Millions & Karaka Sales, and our foals by him also look exceptional.

After 34mls of rain last week, the farm is starting to green up, but we desperately need more follow-up rain. Thankfully, our horses, sheep, and cattle are all in great condition.

Last weekend we were really honoured to travel to Hawkes' bay to celebrate the wedding of two very special young people - Angus and Madeleine Schaw - it was the most wonderful day, a stunning venue at Oceanbeach - everything beautifully done. We wish them a world of happiness and we felt so privileged to share their special day with them, their family and their friends - and not forgetting Louie the golden retriever.

This weekend coming up is a busy one too, with a trio of jumpers heading to Warrnambool on Friday, and we will also be racing at Cranbourne, Trentham, Te Aroha, Flemington and Tauranga.

Thank you for your support, enthusiasm, and passion for racing - it really drives our whole team - we appreciate the kind messages we receive from so many people who understand just how hard everyone works to bring out the best in every horse in the stable. 

GO THE TANGERINE!