Te Akau Monday Update
Date: 6 Mar 2023
David writes:
Firstly let me say how proud we are to confirm that Te Akau's Cyclone Gabrielle donation drive has now closed - raising $43,900. We pledged to contribute dollar for dollar for the first $10,000 raised, and this came in within an hour of the fund launching!
We are so incredibly humbled and grateful for every contribution received - this will head directly to the Red Cross and we know will make such an important difference to those in most need. Thank you again to everyone who donated!
What a brilliant day's racing we saw at Te Rapa on Saturday for Derby Day.
With the track renovations underway at Ellerslie, the derby meeting was reallocated to the Waikato Racing Club. Well done to CEO Butch Castles and all the team at Te Rapa. Track Manager Bart Cowan had the track in absolutely perfect condition and considering all the extra racing Te Rapa has had with Te Aroha and Ellerslie being closed, the track was a true credit to them!
Kudos to the Chairman John Elstob and all the Board - this is a club we can all be very proud of!
From a Te Akau perspective, our owners enjoyed some very good results, a mixed day in some ways, but recording three wins and another stakes' win, as well as a Group 1 second placing in Sydney was a great effort by the team.
I thought that 2YO Cu Chulainn was very impressive at Wingatui, winning his first start by four lengths. His win was even more impressive when you consider the young gelding had travelled south from our Matamata stable to target the event -p that's som 1300kms. A son of Burgundy, he was bred by us, together with Glenn and Catherine Holmes.
Later on the Wingatui programme we were 'over the moon' to see Romancing the Moon (below) win the Listed NZB Insurance Stakes by a whopping margin - 5.5 lengths. I purchased this El Roca filly for just $50,000 and already stakes' placed on four occasions previously so we knew she had a stakes' race win coming her way.
I also thought Imperatriz went a great race at Randwick (main picture) in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes, to just be beaten in the last stride by a horse that has performed at the elite level in both hemispheres. However a Group 1 second placing will certainly add to her pedigree, and she showed she is really competitive at the highest level in Australia.
Romancing the Moon became Mark Walker's 27th black type win this season and our stable has already won over $6 million in prize money for our owners. We have now won a total of 137 races too, that's 72 ahead of the nearest stable. With a strike rate of 6.2, that's one of the best strike rates among the top ten trainers.
Congratulations to all the team that look after these horses so well. We are all very proud of you.
NEW ZEALAND TRAINERS' PREMIERSHIP - as at 6.3.23
| Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Stakes | Starts | G & L | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Walker | 137 | 118 | 90 | $6,096,492 | 849 | 27 | 6.2 |
| 2 | Stephen Marsh | 65 | 81 | 62 | $2,390,465 | 599 | 4 | 9.22 |
| 3 | Robbie Patterson | 33 | 15 | 16 | $583,760 | 129 | 0 | 3.91 |
| 4 | Andrew Forsman | 30 | 34 | 27 | $1,584,247 | 233 | 6 | 7.77 |
| 5 | Lisa Latta | 29 | 31 | 39 | $1,362,725 | 319 | 7 | 11 |
| 6 | Tony Pike | 28 | 27 | 29 | $910,855 | 229 | 2 | 8.18 |
| 7 | Kevin Myers | 28 | 27 | 25 | $1,125,815 | 213 | 3 | 7.61 |
| 8 | Roger James & Robert Wellwood | 25 | 16 | 16 | $1,438,635 | 155 | 4 | 6.2 |
| 9 | Lance O'Sullivan & Andrew Scott | 22 | 27 | 19 | $916,920 | 193 | 2 | 8.77 |
| 10 | Andrew Carston | 22 | 26 | 28 | $520,660 | 300 | 0 | 13.64 |
Its another very busy week for everyone with the trials tomorrow at Rotorua, Taupo races on Wednesday and another Group 1 day, Auckland Cup Day, at Pukekohe on Saturday. Our Karaka 2YO Million winner Tokyo Tycoon, who also won the Group 3 Fairview Slipper last start remaining unbeaten, is a hot favourite in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes - it's always a very enjoyable day of racing.
Its been a great week at Te Akau Stud. I've never seen the farm look better. The quality of grass is quite incredible, with so much clover. The cattle have never done so well in February/March. This time last year, it was a challenge to ensure they held their condition, but definitely not this year as they are putting on well over 1kg a day.
We are busy weaning foals this week and all the horses are just thriving. The yearlings from the sales just look amazing and we are having owners out to the farm most days to see them.
The shares in our yearlings have been selling very quickly however we still have some shares available in very special yearlings - remember Tokyo Tycoon was one of the very last to sell in his year and Imperatriz was also the very last in her year!
A filly that I really like and want to highly recommend today is Lot 156 - a Kermadec filly that we bought from Cambridge Stud for $180,000 plus GST. She has really impressed me as a powerful, scooped type of filly who covers the ground effortlessly.
She has a beautiful international pedigree, in fact her 3rd dam was a Group 1 Ascot winner and was Group 1 placed three further times. She was Second Top European 2YO Filly in her season, and won three races in a row as a two year old. There is a ton of early talent in this family.
A showy chestnut with an unflappable nature, she looks a Karaka Million runner to me. Have a look at the video and pedigree of this filly - she really is a ripper!
A 10% share is $19,000 +GST
A 5% share is $9,500 +GST
A 2.5% share is $4,750 +GST
Here she is:
https://teakauracing.com/product/karaka-2023-lot-156-kermadec-empress-cixi-chestnut-filly/
Have a great week and all the very best of luck to our owners with runners!