Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

What a fantastic week of racing it was in Christchurch! Racing every day - whether it was the gallops or harness or greyhounds! There’s something special about Cup Week in Christchurch; it’s one of our industry's great traditions that reminds us why racing holds such a unique place in New Zealand’s sporting life. Cup Week is iconic!

Karyn was in the south, being a born and bred Cantabrian, to represent the stable at Riccarton while I stayed home on the farm and, like everyone watching on television, I couldn’t believe my eyes when that hailstorm hit. I’ve seen a lot of things in racing, but I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed hail like that on a racecourse before - it was absolutely staggering!

I felt so sorry for the Canterbury Jockey Club team after all the hard work and planning that goes in to a Cup Day, to see a weather strike like that. For the team to carry on and complete the day’s racing was a huge credit to CEO Tim Mills and his staff at the Canterbury Jockey Club. It really showed remarkable resilience and professionalism.

It’s also been a busy and exciting past week with the Ready to Run Sale. We purchased three very nice two year olds: a Circus Maximus gelding for $100,000 that we’ll race in Victoria in partnership with our great friends at OTI Racing; an Ole Kirk colt for $480,000 (pictured below); and a Snitzel colt for Fortuna Syndications.

It was a strong sale from start to finish, and I am sure the company was pleased with the international buying bench - particularly the representation from across the Asian continent, a very important market now for our breeders.

All three young horses have now arrived, settled in beautifully, at Te Akau Stud. They’re enjoying a couple of weeks in the paddock to unwind after the sale, and then they’ll head into the stable so we can start to learn a bit more about them. They’re lovely, athletic types and I’m very excited to see how they develop over the next few months.

On the racing front, it was terrific to see Sibling Rivalry score so decisively at Te Aroha midweek. We also enjoyed a good day at Tauranga on Saturday, winning two races in a row with When Stars Align and Charm Rose - both very progressive horses who continue to impress us. At Riccarton, we had a string of close results: Trobriand and Insatiable ran second and third in the Listed Stewards' Stakes, followed immediately by another second and third with Hooray for Harry and Legally Binding in the next race. The heavy (and downgraded) track conditions weren’t ideal for our team, but they all tried hard and ran very good races - they’ll keep. Our Assistant trainer Hunter and our southern team put their heart and souls into Cup Week and we truly appreciate their dedication and their passion for all they do.

I am proud of the season the team is having thus far across New Zealand and Australia - in New Zealand, we again lead the Trainers' Premiership - and with eight months to run, there is plenty of more exciting racing, and wins, to come for sure.

It was also great to see racing return to Waipukurau on Sunday. Why this course ever closed down is beyond me!

In years gone by, there used to be five racecourses in the Gisborne–Hawke’s Bay region - Gisborne, Wairoa, Napier, Hastings and Waipukurau. Do we need all five today? No. But we certainly need two. The industry desperately needs Hawke’s Bay and Waipukurau to remain active race venues, and it was just fantastic to see such a strong crowd and a beautiful track for its return meeting.

Well done to the Waipukurau Jockey Club - let’s hope this momentum continues. There’s absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t.

So all in all, a week full of great racing, strong results, and plenty to look ahead to!

Best of luck to all our owners with runners this week - I was just told it's only five weeks to Christmas too - GO THE TANGERINE!