Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

What a fantastic day it was at Counties on Saturday! Seeing Qali Al Farrasha win the Group 2 Dunstan Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes was one of the biggest thrills I’ve had this season.

Gee, she was impressive. It was a special moment for me personally because I bred her along with my two good mates, David and Matthew Peacocke. Even more satisfying is that I also bred Qali Al Farrasha’s dam, Nucleonic, a mare by Burgundy. There’s something very rewarding about seeing generations of breeding decisions come to life on the racetrack.

Nucleonic currently has a foal at foot by Almanzor, which makes it a full sister to Qali Al Farrasha, and also to stakes' winner Nucleazor, and she’s safely back in foal to Almanzor again - so there are some exciting times ahead for that family.

Qali Al Farrasha has been placed in four Group 1 races already, and I don’t think it will be long before she breaks through at the elite level. She’s been brilliantly trained by Sam Bergerson and his assistant trainer Reece Trumper, and I want to say a big congratulations to them and all the team involved - as well as Wiremu Pinn who rode her perfectly. It’s their hard work, patience, and attention to detail that make days like Saturday possible.

It was also great to see Mark Walker and our Cranbourne team train another winner in Victoria on Saturday with a talented Cambridge Stud gelding who went into the race with three seconds from five starts, so his maiden win was always close. It was terrific for all involved and we love seeing the colours that dual Horse of the Year Probabeel wore saluting the judge!

In other good news too: Opie Bosson was back riding trackwork at Matamata this morning after a mandatory injury stand-down and he looks on track to be available to ride on Saturday.

Looking back at last week, it started on a really high note. On Monday I was honoured to be asked to open a new building at my granddaughter’s school, St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland.

Our family's connection with the school spans an extraordinary 107 years. My mother, Joan Ellis (Wells), was a former Head Girl who married my father David Ellis Senior. Dad served as Trust Board Chairman for eight years, and the College honoured his service by naming the David Ellis Building after him.

Our family’s ties to the school reach back even further. My mother's sister (in the photo with our family) Judy Laity was Games' Captain, and my grandmother Gladys Wells was one of St Cuthbert’s early students starting in 1918. The Wells Building is named in honour of the many Wells family Trust Board members, including my grandfather who was also Chairman. My sister also attended the school and was also Games' Captain and my two daughters attended in the 1990's.

So our granddaughter Lucia-Rose Hayes is the fifth generation of our family to attend St Cuthbert’s - and she proudly carries on the tradition.

It was a beautiful occasion and I was incredibly proud to be part of it. Principal Charlotte Avery is doing an outstanding job leading the school, which now has around 1,600 students and is independently rated as one of the very best schools in New Zealand.

I spent most of last week on the farm and am thrilled with how the grass has come away. The steers are absolutely thriving, putting on over 2kg a day on the lush pastures. The average steer we’ve sold has made $3,537 with a top price of $3,718 for the unit of 40 we sent last Tuesday.

We’ve also bought about 1,000 yearling steers at an average of $1,610 each, and they’re absolutely thriving on the beautiful grass we’ve been blessed with. This week we’re sending 350 six-year-old ewes to the processors - the last group made $165 each — and the lambs we sent ten days ago returned $175. Even wool has improved in price; we received $3.78 per kilo for the main line of ewe wool. It’s still well down on the $6.50 a kilo I got back in 1979, but it’s a lot better than last year’s $1.50!

Finally, well done to the All Blacks for their great win in Wales! I remember attending the opening of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - what an incredible venue. And a special shout-out to Te Akau owner Anton Lienert-Brown, who played a terrific game. He’s had a tough run with injuries this year, which must be very frustrating, but what a talented and determined player he is.

All in all, it’s been a wonderful week both on and off the track.

Best of luck to all our owners with runners this week - and as always, GO THE TANGERINE!