Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

It was a busy weekend and the week shapes up to be exactly the same.  Many of our current and our new owners are coming to see the horses they have taken shares in - in fact a lovely owner Joan joined us this morning all the way from Wellington to see the new filly by Iffraaj she has taken a share in.

Of course with the Derby now only five days away the momentum of Auckland Cup Week is certainly building.  Our daughter Julia-Rose works at Ellerslie in the marketing area so she is full on at the moment.

Before we get to Derby Day on Saturday, of course we have the Twilight meeting at Te Rapa for the Waikato Racing Club on Wednesday.  Then on Friday we are attending the Carbine Charity lunch in Auckland at Ellerslie.  I am a member of the Carbine Club and Karyn is again their MC for the event, a task she does voluntarily for them as they raise funds for such great causes.

At Te Akau we are proud of a new addition to our stable - former Australian-based galloper Thy will take the next step towards resuming her career in New Zealand with a hit-out at Tuesday's Matamata trials.

Owned and raced by Matamata's Waikato Stud, the winner of four races from sixteen starts, including twice at Listed level, the talented mare entered the Te Akau Racing in January after returning from across the Tasman.

She has made steady progress since then and took the first step to a race day return with a solid hit-out at the recent Cambridge trials. Despite being amongst the tailenders in the 10 horse open heat over 950 metres she pleased Jason.

Thy will go to Matamata on Tuesday for her next trial and safely through that we will map out a programme for her in consultation with the Chitticks.  Given her record to date she certainly wouldn't look out of place in races like the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes or the Easter Handicap which are both at Group One level.

In other news, Wolfwhistle has trained on well after his run in the same trial as Thy, his first serious hit-out since a wind operation to correct some breathing issues.  The son of O'Reilly and dual Group One winner Legs hasn't been seen since finishing sixth in the Hawkes Bay Guineas in October.  He had a wind operation after his last run and we have given him plenty of time to get over that.

Wolfwhistle is an exciting galloper so we are keen to see him back at the races. He will also go to the trials at Matamata.  I purchased his half brother by Savabeel at the Karaka Premier Sale for $200,000 and he proved very popular and is all sold.

A solid work-out on Saturday has us all excited about the New Zealand Derby prospects of outstanding three-year-old filly Spellbinder.  Spellbinder and fellow Derby contender King Savinsky worked on the Matamata course proper prior to Saturday's race-meeting, cutting out the last 1200 metres of a solid hit-out in 1.14.2 with the last 600 metres in 34.7 seconds.

Both horses went really well with Spellbinder looking ready to rock after a brief freshen up since finishing second to Hera at Te Rapa in the Group 2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic.   At this stage they both look good prospects in the Derby and if we get some rain to soften the track on race day that will be right up Spellbinder's alley.