Te Akau Monday Update
Date: 2 Jan 2023
David writes:
We hope you had a brilliant New Year and what a way to kick start 2023 for Te Akau's owners and our team: with a Group 1 win and two Group 2 quinellas on 1 January at Te Rapa.
It was such a fun day at Te Rapa with a very large crowd, people in holiday mode, lots of families and picnics - it's wonderful to see people turning up to enjoy the high quality racing on offer.
The day' success started off for Te Akau with classy Kermadec two year old Trobriand maintaining his unbeaten record, making it three wins from three starts, when he claimed the Group 2 Carlaw Park Eclipse Stakes. He is a very promising colt, and Opie Bosson was highly complimentary about his performance.
I thought his stablemate Talisker really caught the eye rattling home from well back in the field to flash into second, while Balance of Power went a good race, probably looking for a bit more give in the ground.
Trobriand, Talisker and Balance of Power have now cemented their places in the Karaka 2YO Million to be staged on 21 January. Currently Te Akau horses comprise seven of the field of 14 - Trobriand heading the Order of Entry for the event - as we attempt to win the race for the seventh consecutive time.
| TOTAL STAKES | ORDER | CONDITIONAL ORDER * | NAME BREEDING | TRAINER | SALE PRICE | VENDOR PURCHASER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $117,090 | 1 | 1 | Trobriand B. C Kermadec x Arboreal | MW Walker | $260,000 | Windsor Park Stud DC Ellis |
| $95,200 | 2 | 2 | Impendabelle Ch. F Impending x Applegate | A W Pike | $80,000 | Hallmark Stud Brewers B/stock |
| $57,300 | 3 | 3 | Ethereal Star Ch. F Snitzel x Eleonora | Andrew Forsman | $600,000 | Blandford Lodge Forsman Racing/Andrew Williams B/stock/Bevan Smith B/stock |
| $48,650 | 4 | 4 | Tokyo Tycoon B. G Satono Aladdin x All About the Coin | MW Walker | $125,000 | Rich Hill Stud DC Ellis |
| $34,200 | 5 | 5 | Rhetorical B. F Snitzel x Xpression | MW Walker | $270,000 | Haunui Farm DC Ellis |
| $34,040 | 6 | 6 | Believe in Magic B. F Not A Single Doubt x Perform a Miracle | MW Walker | $200,000 | Westbury Stud DC Ellis |
| $31,550 | 7 | 7 | Viva Vienna Ch. F All Too Hard x Anna of Austria | MW Walker | $100,000 | Westbury Stud DC Ellis |
| $27,250 | 8 | 8 | Talisker Br. G Embellish x Glenkinchie | MW Walker | $70,000 | Landsdowne Park Ltd DC Ellis |
| $26,290 | 9 | 9 | Dapper Ch. C Shooting to Win x Brianna | J Benner & H Wynyard | $150,000 | Milan Park GE Harding |
| $24,250 | 10 | 10 | Ulanova Ch. F Santos x The Fairy's Kiss | S B Marsh | $150,000 | Kilgravin Lodge Mick Wallace |
| $22,850 | 11 | 11 | Balance of Power B. C Almanzor x Respin | MW Walker | $300,000 | Cambridge Stud DC Ellis |
| $17,850 | 12 | 12 | To Catch a Thief B. G U S Navy Flag x Stolen Gem | G Richardson & R Norvall | $160,000 | Woburn Farm Stuart Hale & Co (BAFNZ) |
| $13,600 | 13 | 13 | Orgullo B. F Pride of Dubai x World of Gold | C Isdale | $40,000 | Hallmark Stud Isdale Racing/IJ Lewis |
| $11,350 | 14 | 14 | Shoes Br. F Derryn x Ambitious Beauty | M Moroney & P Gerard | $22,500 | Grangewilliam Stud Paul Moroney B/stock/Ballymore Stables |
Next it was the turn of our Champion 3YO of last season, Imperatriz. Already the winner of two Group 1 races as a three year old, she returned from a Spring setback to prove that class is permanent when she won the Group 1 Sistema Railway.
Imperatriz was also ridden by our stable rider Opie Bosson and became our third consecutive Railway winner - following on from Avantage and Entriviere. The next major race aim for this daughter of I Am Invincible will be the Group 1 BCD (Waikato) Sprint on 11 February, with one lead in race. We have won this race previously with Darci Brahma (2007), Xtravagant (2016), Melody Belle (2019), Te Akau Shark (2020) and Avantage (2021).
If you didn't see Imperatriz's race, go back and watch the replay on Weigh In on our website - it was a 200 out of 100 Opie ride, just beautifully executed, a master class. Opie is riding as well as he ever has and Sunday's Group 1 was his 88th elite success.
I would like to take the opportunity to say how proud we all are that Opie will be inducted in to the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame this year.
Campionessa then won the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile, with home-bred NZB Filly of the Year winner Belle En Rouge finishing off strongly to snare second place. It was a real training feat by Mark to have Campionessa return from winning the Listed Metropolitan at Riccarton during Cup Week over 2500m, to winning the Group 2 over the mile.
Campionessa delivered Te Akau's 15thblack type win for the season which is a massive effort. I could not be more thrilled for our owners, as well as our stable and stud teams who work so hard to produce these results.
Outside of our three Group winners, we saw some super results including:
Talisker - 2nd in the Group 2 Eclipse Stakes
Belle En Rouge - 2nd in the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile
Dynastic - 3rd in the Group 2 Auckland Guineas
Safura - 3rd in the Group 2 Royal Stakes
Self Obsession - 2nd in the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup
Then on Monday, Te Akau reached another milestone as Stonybreck, partnered by Opie, breezed home at Tauranga - becoming win 90 for the season.
It's an incredible result to see 90 winners in just five months - with a remarkable 80 second and 57 third placings. We have now won over $3.2 million for our owners in New Zealand alone, that's 2.5 times more than the next stable.
Te Akau has also won 15 Group/Listed races - 10 more than any other stable. These results only come about because of the incredible team we have looking after the horses, and the great job Mark does leading the team.
We can also only achieve these results because of the wonderful and enthusiastic support our owners give us - and we sincerely thank them all.
New Zealand Trainers' Premiership - as at 2.1.23
| Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Stakes | Starts | G & L | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Walker | 90 | 80 | 57 | $3,212,847 | 561 | 15 | 6.23 |
| 2 | Stephen Marsh | 38 | 59 | 45 | $1,277,130 | 429 | 0 | 11.29 |
| 3 | Andrew Forsman | 26 | 27 | 19 | $1,118,942 | 171 | 5 | 6.58 |
| 4 | Kevin Myers | 24 | 23 | 18 | $1,048,130 | 172 | 3 | 7.17 |
| 5 | Robbie Patterson | 23 | 9 | 11 | $381,850 | 88 | 0 | 3.83 |
| 6 | Lisa Latta | 19 | 20 | 28 | $857,190 | 205 | 5 | 10.79 |
| 7 | Tony Pike | 19 | 18 | 20 | $570,325 | 163 | 1 | 8.58 |
| 8 | Roger James & Robert Wellwood | 18 | 9 | 11 | $534,915 | 98 | 2 | 5.44 |
| 9 | Andrew Carston | 15 | 18 | 21 | $334,295 | 205 | 0 | 13.67 |
| 10 | Shaune Ritchie & Colm Murray | 15 | 3 | 11 | $266,190 | 80 | 0 | 5.33 |
| 11 | Cody Cole | 14 | 9 | 5 | $230,780 | 73 | 0 | 5.21 |
| 12 | Ken Rae & Krystal Williams | 13 | 7 | 9 | $299,680 | 89 | 0 | 6.85 |
| 13 | Ralph Manning | 12 | 11 | 9 | $212,655 | 99 | 0 | 8.25 |
| 14 | Lance Robinson | 12 | 7 | 12 | $293,065 | 79 | 0 | 6.58 |
| 15 | Lance Noble | 12 | 6 | 5 | $508,595 | 49 | 3 | 4.08 |
| 16 | Michael & Matthew Pitman | 11 | 15 | 20 | $338,510 | 165 | 0 | 15 |
| 17 | Team Rogerson | 11 | 13 | 12 | $285,540 | 168 | 0 | 15.27 |
| 18 | Lance O'Sullivan & Andrew Scott | 11 | 13 | 9 | $515,075 | 105 | 2 | 9.55 |
| 19 | Terri Rae | 11 | 11 | 4 | $231,630 | 59 | 0 | 5.36 |
| 20 | Bruce Tapper & Varma Ramhit | 11 | 10 | 9 | $263,905 | 62 | 1 | 5.64 |
I thought the Te Rapa track was just magnificent considering the amount of racing it has had. Under the Chairmanship of John Elstob with his Board, and the executive leadership of Butch Castles heading a team including top-class track manager Bart Cowan, the Waikato Racing Club has done a great job supporting the industry, especially with the Ellerslie track being unavailable with its renovations.
Speaking of Ellerslie, on Thursday Karyn and I are going to the funeral/memorial service of Colin Jillings at 2.00pm at the Ellerslie racecourse. So it's Tuesday and Wednesday on the farm and then the service for Colin and then we fly to the Gold Coast for the Magic Millions' sale. Karyn and I will be joined by Marcus Corban and our Racing Manager Reece Trumper.
With the Gold Coast and Karaka yearling sales coming up, it's a good opportunity to reflect on some of the horses I have mentioned above:
I purchased now dual stakes' winners Campionessa for A$60,000 from the draft of Mapperley Stud at the Gold Coast Sale after she was passed in. Imperatriz also came from the Gold Coast Sale and I paid A$360,000 for her - she was bred by Raffles' Farm.
Trobriand was purchased by me at Karaka from the draft of Windsor Park Stud for $260,000, while Balance of Power from Cambridge Stud's draft was $300,000 and Talisker was knocked down for $70,000 from the draft of Landsdowne Park.
Stonybreck was also a Karaka yearling purchase by me, and I snapped him up for $20,000. One of the favourites for the $1 million Karaka 3YO Classic - Wild Night who has won five races in a row - was bought by me for $50,000 from that same sale, showing that Te Akau does buy for all budgets.
If you have any interest being involved in one of our Magic Millions' or Karaka yearlings - call me on 021 925151 or email Karyn - [email protected] for a no-obligation chat, you will be made very welcome!
Back