Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

We have had a very busy and exciting week at the Magic Millions' sale on the Gold Coast this past week, where we bought a total of 15 yearlings – 8 fillies and 7 colts. Karyn and I had a great team there at the sale, with our two vets Drs Douglas Black and Jack O’Brien, joining Mark Walker, Reece Trumper and Marcus Corban - I was delighted with the group of horses we were able to secure.

We have already put two really nice fillies into a syndicate.

Lot 148 is the Snitzel filly out of Carry On Alice which we bought for A$460,000, and Lot 214 the Extreme Choice filly out of Deroche which we bought for A$850,000. These two fillies stood out to our entire team by every stringent measure we apply - both graded very highly, so it was no surprise that they were keenly sought after. They are both magnificent individuals.

We have also put two colts into a syndicate. These are Lot 493 the Snitzel colt out of Loving Gaby that we paid A$800,000 for, and the Snitzel colt out of Never Listen that we bought for A$675,000.

Both of these syndicates will be independent partnerships - registered for GST. The success of these fillies and colts over the past ten years has been just remarkable and shares are selling very quickly, so if you would like to be involved please call me anytime on 021 925 151.

We also bought 11 other really nice horses that will be sold and syndicated individually.

While we were on the Gold Coast, Karyn was the guest speaker at the Women in Racing Luncheon on Monday, which was a sell-out function and a fundraiser for Griffith University. I was a very proud man during the week when so many people came up to me to say how much they, or their wives and partners who attended, enjoyed her talk and thought she did a great job. It’s no wonder she won a World Speaking Contest all those years ago. She tells me she has retired from public speaking now, but she still enjoys supporting charities when she can, by helping with fundraising events as a speaker or MC.

I came back from the Gold Coast late on Friday night and returned to the farm on Sunday morning. I spent yesterday looking at every horse on the farm and walking through every paddock, and today I have spent the day with the team here. On Tuesday I will again be inspecting the horses at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Sale.

It is a very special year for New Zealand Bloodstock as this marks its 100th sale. I bought my first horse through the company in 1984 when the sale was at Trentham and I have bought every year since. The first sale at Karaka was in 1988 and I have been a major buyer there ever since.

I am very lucky that what I do for a living is also my hobby, and looking at yearlings is something that I absolutely love.

On Saturday night in Auckland there was a huge amount of rain and it was literally raining all night, but we only received 5.5mls at Te Akau Stud. We could certainly do with a little bit more rain, but the stock are all doing amazingly well. This week we are sending two units (80 steers) to Greenlea and we will be selling cattle each week for the next month.

I was absolutely thrilled yesterday looking at the horses spelling and seeing how well they are doing. Even though the farm is getting a little bit brown, it still looks amazing and the stock are doing so well, which is enormous credit to Mick Morrison and Luke Copeland, who run the sheep and cattle part of Te Akau Stud.

All the yearlings that we bought at Magic Millions are now on our website, so please feel free to go in and have a look.

If you would like to come out to the Karaka Sale with me and be part of the team, you will be made very welcome - just email or call and let us know.

We have a big team racing at Ellerslie this Saturday for the Karaka Millions' meeting and we have some really good chances in the big races. It's hard to win these races but we will be trying to emulate our Karaka Millions' double of 2025 - no other stable has achieved this, and we were humbled that it was the third time Te Akau has done this.  

Winning eight of the last nine Karaka 2YO Millions, and three of the last six Karaka 3YO Millions, is a record we are proud of and work hard to maintain.  We will have Opie Bosson ONZM and international rider Craig Williams riding most of our horses. Craig is one of the leading jockeys in Australia, has recently also ridden in Hong Kong, and of course won the Karaka 2YO Millions for us this time last year.

The week has started well with Bolli Belle, raced mostly by new owners to racing, win by 3.5 lengths on debut today with our apprentice Hayley Hassman in the saddle.  I was thrilled for her owners as she has been a filly who has needed time, and Hayley rode her a treat - she is riding in super form currently.

Over Friday, Saturday and Sunday we are going to have about 24 runners, so it is going to be a very exciting weekend for Te Akau Racing and our owners, and a busy time for our team.

Best of luck to all our owners with runners, and ...

GO THE TANGERINE!