Te Akau Monday Update
3 September, 2018
David writes:
Saturday was a day I will never forget in all my life!
Firstly, let me set the scene - one of the Australian owners of Te Akau Shark, Chris Russell and his wife and son, had flown over from Sydney on Friday to see their pride and joy race. They headed to the airport on Saturday morning to fly into Napier to get to the races but the flight was cancelled!! They were just do disappointed and, as they had no way of getting to Hawkes Bay in time for the race, we invited them to come and watch the race with us at Te Akau Stud and stay the night.
We also had the pleasure of the company of some of the BGP team - Luke Kemeys, Ben Masters and Ben Jones were due to come and visit the farm to inspect the fillies BGP is involved with - and then take in some good Group 1 Saturday racing with Karyn and me, and our daughter Julia-Rose and her fiance Hamish (and baby Lucia-Rose), who the lads also know well.
So we all sit down to watch the races and firstly see Te Akau Shark demolish his field - it was so exciting, the team here were jumping up and down for joy - especially our Australian guests!
Then to say we all "went mad" when Melody Belle won the Group 1 Tarzino Trophy for Shafiq Rusof with stable mate Our Abbadean a super third - well that would be a vast understatement! It was very nearly a Te Akau quinella. It was just such a thrill and I was so happy that I have to admit to having a couple of tears roll down the cheeks. I was just so proud of our whole team and especially Jamie Richards - to train his 14th Group 1 winner, and the first in his own right, is such a huge result for a young man still in his twenties. Well done to all our hard-working team!
I also thought the run of the race came from Our Abbadean - the Hawkins family are rightly very proud of this game mare. She must be very hard to beat in the next two legs of this Carnival you would think.
One other thing that really impresses me is just how good a judge both Dan Miller and Opie Bosson are. After Thursday trackwork, Opie sent me a text to say that in his view, Te Akau Shark and Melody Belle "just win on Saturday" and as usual he was spot on, 100%. He really is a world-class judge of a horse.
Talking of Opie, like me he can struggle with his getting his weight down, so very sensibly he called me last week for advice and this morning he started working at Te Akau Stud. He will be riding on the last day at Hawkes Bay, of that I am confident. We are very lucky to have Shafiq (or Suppy as we know him) riding so well in his absence and Suppy will continue to play a major role in our team.
Jamie has now had 14 runners for seven winners in his first month - how good is that!! Below is the current New Zealand Trainers' Premiership table as of this morning (source NZTR):
Premierships are based on performances during each racing season (August 1st - July 31st). The jockey and trainer with the most wins at the end of the season are the Premiership winners. These statistics are updated daily.
| Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Stakes | Starts | G & L | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gibbs & Michelle Bradley | 9 | 8 | 4 | $128,247 | 61 | 0 | 6.78 |
| 2 | Kevin Myers | 7 | 6 | 13 | $152,418 | 78 | 0 | 11.14 |
| 3 | Jamie Richards | 7 | 0 | 1 | $253,750 | 14 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Team Rogerson | 6 | 5 | 6 | $109,937 | 54 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 | Paul Nelson | 6 | 1 | 3 | $117,437 | 22 | 1 | 3.67 |
| 6 | Brian & Shane Anderton | 4 | 3 | 1 | $90,288 | 16 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | 4 | 2 | 3 | $62,960 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 |
| 8 | Nicholas Bishara | 4 | 0 | 0 | $48,660 | 11 | 0 | 2.75 |
| 9 | Lisa Latta | 3 | 3 | 4 | $116,037 | 24 | 1 | 8 |
| 10 | Stephen Marsh | 3 | 3 | 1 | $29,565 | 24 | 0 | 8 |
Both of our Hastings' winners were brilliantly ridden by Suppy - he is a really top rider and I notice that the smart stables are starting to engage him now and I predict he is in for a huge season and will make a very big impact on the Jockeys' Premiership.
So all in all, it was a very happy day and a massive night off celebrations and fun!
Going back to Friday, we had a full day strategy meeting at the farm which was led by our youngest daughter Julia-Rose and her fiance Hamish Hayes - we had very valuable discussions around a wide range of topics and how we intend to take Te Akau Racing to the next level - where we aim to be in 12 months, two years, five years and 10 years. It was a very productive day and we will be undertaking many activities to ensure that Te Akau Racing keeps leading the field.
To cap off the weekend of success, we then saw a Mark Walker quinella at Kranji for our Singapore stable. Hidden Promise, a horse I purchased for Fortuna Syndicators for $65,000 from the Karaka Ready to Run Sale, posted his fifth win, just holding out Northern Knight who we train for the Raffles' Racing team. He has now won almost $170,000 in prize money.
It is a very frustrating time of the year on the farm, it's just so wet. Jamie told me how much rain they have had in Matamata and I said wouldn't the poor farmers in Australia just love to be in our position? Some areas there haven't seen rain for two years, can you imagine that? How sad is this and how stressful for so many families. I feel so sorry for them and it really makes you realise just how lucky we are in the Waikato.
From a new Group 1 winner on Saturday to another former multiple Group 1 winner - it was with great sadness that we announced the retirement of Gingernuts today. Sad on one hand that we will never again get to see "Jerry" do what he did so well on the track but also glad - the risk was too high to consider a racing return and together with his owners, it would break our hearts if anything happened to him. He will live his days out at Te Akau Stud in first class quarters - and he has plenty of life ahead of him. Who knows, maybe he can become a fantastic ambassador for NZ racing in the future - I have never seen a horse with such a fan club. Happy retirement Jerry - you are be safe and happy here, much-loved boy.
This week, on each fine day we will be docking the lambs. The ewes and lambs all really look terrific and the grass is growing furiously. Without a doubt, it is my favourite time of the year: the days are getting longer and the cattle start to lose their winter coats and you can see them all thriving - plus the blossom trees I have planted at Te Akau Stud are all beginning to flower and it really is such a pretty time of the year. We just need a little better weather for our tracks!