Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

What a weekend Te Akau had!  Winners on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - well done to all our owners!

On Saturday, I drove over to the Matamata races - it is the premier meeting in the country on that day and what a great day it was.  A huge crowd was on course and there was a great atmosphere and a really good track especially given all the rain we have had in the Waikato in the past two weeks.

In most cases, the horses really raced well - of course especially Savabeel gelding Sword of Osman who claimed the Group 3 Matamata Slipper for two year old colts and geldings in emphatic fashion - by a huge 5.75 lengths!  I thought his effort was the win of the weekend with such a massive margin and being eased down by Opie (Bosson - Te Akau's stable rider).   Sword of Osman became Te Akau's sixth winner of this race!

Opie told me the first time he galloped this horse how good Sword of Osman was and, as we have come to expect, Opie was spot on in his judgement.  I bought this lad as a yearling for $165,000 from the draft of Trelawney Stud.  He was bred by Joan Egan and he was the second last horse to sell last year!

This youngster has an extremely exciting future ahead of him that's for sure.  We also ran third in the 'Slipper' with Handsome Rebel who came home impressively and who will win a race very quickly for the Fortuna team.

The second of three stakes races during the meeting, the $100,000 Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes saw stable rider Opie Bosson bring home The Reel Beel with a strong run out of midfield to finish third. A Savabeel filly, The Reel Beel went a terrific race in the event that we have won six times previously, most recently with Gold Fever last year.  She is owned by Wayne and Jo-Ann Phillips and she is their first horse -  being from the same Eight Carat family as Champion Three-Year-Old, Cox Plate winner and Australian Horse of the Year Octagonal (Zabeel), stallion Kaapstad (Sir Tristram), hugely talented Group 1 sprinter Diamond Lover (Sticks and Stones), and having the nine time winner Marquise (Gold and Ivory) as her third dam, The Real Beel has become an enormously valuable commodity.

We now only have shares remaining in three yearlings - two fillies and a colt.  There is absolutely NO REASON why they haven't sold - they are amongst our best!

The one filly that you have all missed and that has a huge pedigree update is Lot 439, our Per Incanto filly out of Not A Jaffa.  It's not often I tell Karyn that she has to take a share in a yearling (she loves them all to be fair!!) but I came back from my evening drive around the farm the other night and told her she just had to.  There is a story all about her posted earlier today which I encourage you to read.

This morning Opie and Emily Bosson were at the farm looking at all the yearlings and Opie told me that he thought a filly he has ridden, that is a half-sister to the mother of our filly and a sister to Werther could win the New Zealand Oaks - so that would add huge value on to our Per Incanto filly - I urge you to check her out and you won't be disappointed - Lot 439.

Tomorrow morning Avantage, our Karaka Million winner, is galloping at Ellerslie to make absolutely certain she is ready for the Group 1 Sistema Diamond Stakes on Saturdya week.  Opie will gallop her in the morning.

This of course is Group 1 NZ Derby week and we have a really good chance this year with Mongolianconqueror - we are very happy with him so fingers crossed for a good track.  Hard to believe it was a year ago on Saturday since Gingernuts "dunked them in the Derby" and Opie loved catching up with his pal Jerry today too.

See you all at Ellerslie for Derby Day on Saturday - a huge day with Te Akau horses running in Group 1's in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland!  GO THE TANGERINE!!