Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

What a truly special 12 hours Te Akau Racing enjoyed on Saturday, with five winners recorded across two countries - one late on Friday night in Melbourne, another in Victoria on Saturday afternoon, and three at Matamata, highlighted by the Group 2 J Swap Matamata Breeders' Stakes and Listed Lisa Chittick Champagne Stakes. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Matamata Breeders' Stakes' Day is a fixture on our 'home track' that I very seldom miss, and I’ve probably attended 20 of the last 25 runnings. 

Congratulations to all our owners who enjoyed success at Matamata on Saturday. The Matamata Racing Club puts an enormous amount of effort into staging the meeting and did everything they possibly could to present a great day. I genuinely felt for the Club with the dreadful weather - all that preparation, only to be hampered by the rain - but despite it all, the atmosphere was still terrific.

How dominant was our flying filly Lara Antipova, remaining unbeaten, and winning her second stakes' race in just three starts.  I purchased this Russian Revolution filly from the Magic Millions' sale for the Fortuna team and gee she has been nothing short of impressive at all three starts, winning by a total of 15.8 lengths if you add her margins up.  It was another canny ride by Opie Bosson, and congratulations to all her team of owners.

We have now won the Club's flagship race a total of 11 times - and the last five in a row! That's  incredibly satisfying, particularly when those victories have been achieved with horses that we have either bred ourselves or identified and purchased through the sales. That is exactly what our whole operation is built around, and to see it continue to succeed at this level is as big a thrill as you could ever hope to have in racing.

There is a jockey statue that sits on the front parade ring and the winning colours are painted on annually at this meeting, and remain there for 12 months.  There's a fair amount of 'bragging rights' as every Matamata trainer wants to see their colours there for the next year - this photo was our colours being painted on last year after La Dorada won the event.

It was wonderful to be back in the winner’s circle, and the day started early with 3YO Shamus Award filly Bolli Belle going back to back, making it two starts for two wins.  She is another filly I bought from  Karaka and over 50% of her owners are first time owners to racing - what a thrill for them! 

It was a terrific ride by our apprentice Hayley Hassman on this filly - in fact Hayley won the award for best apprentice of day so we are all very proud of this hard working young woman.  Hayley has already won 21 races this season, already surpassing her total of 20 for last season. She has a bright future as well as one of the best apprentice strike rates in the country too.

It was especially pleasing to win the Listed Lisa Chittick Champagne Stakes on the day too with a mare who showed real courage and determination (a lot like Lisa) when it mattered most.  Lisa was a very special friend to us all at Te Akau and it was a true privilege to win the race named in her honour.

My Lips Are Sealed is a mare who has needed time to find her best form, but to the great credit of Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, she was given the time she needed and is arguably in the best form of her career as a five year old.

In January last year she won the Group 3 Phar Lap Trophy at Trentham, adding black type victory to her stakes' placings prior.  To see her score again at Listed level shows that the patience of her owners and the team has now been well and truly rewarded, and it’s very satisfying to see her delivering on the ability we always believed was there.

We have also won the Group 3 Matamata Slipper for the 2YO colts and geldings a total of 11 times - no luck for us this year as the track conditions thwarted the efforts of our two runners Out of the Blue (2nd) and Kinnaird (4th).  They simply didn't handle the conditions and will keep for another day.  The former is now twice stakes' placed for his Tangerine Army owners, while the latter won the Group 2 Eclipse Stakes on New Year's Day at Ellerslie.

In Australia, we were delighted to win on Friday night at Cranbourne with Cinturato, who we train in association with OTI.  Then it was the turn of Fortuna Racing who struck again but at Ballarat on Saturday with 2YO filly Tolaga Bay.

It's a big day ahead on Saturday for Mark and Ben and our Cranbourne team with six runners in stakes' races including I Am Aria who lines up in the A$2 million Blue Diamond Stakes.  I bought her from the Sydney easter sale and she has had two juvenile starts for a Group 3 runner up placing on debut, followed by a third placing at Group 2 level last start.  International rider Craig Williams is staying with her, so fingers crossed for a decent draw tomorrow.

It will also be exciting to see our inaugural $3 million NZB Kiwi winner Damask Rose take her place in the Group 3 Mannerism Stakes, where she should be very competitive.

The rainfall over the weekend was fascinating in its contrast. We recorded 24.5 mls here at the farm, Raglan had about 15 mls, while Te Awamutu received 150 mls and Otorohanga as much as 200 mls. It’s remarkable that within little more than an hour’s drive you can see such extraordinary differences.

Despite the rain, the farm is looking absolutely outstanding. This morning we welcomed four horses home from Australia following the Magic Millions' sale, and they went straight into some of the best paddocks of grass you could imagine. From a grass-growth point of view, this is easily the best February I have experienced in my career, which goes right back to 1979 when I bought my very first farm.

We currently have so much feed that we won’t be selling any cattle or lambs this week or next. We are also very fortunate that we secured plenty of store cattle early, as prices have risen sharply with the abundance of grass around.

Tomorrow we will head to the Avondale trials with a small team of horses. Among them is Flaming Beauty, a beautifully bred Savabeel filly out of Alezan that I purchased at the Magic Millions' sale, along with a number of other promising types who are heading there primarily for education and experience.

I am delighted to see the return of Michael McNab tomorrow at the Avondale trials after an injury enforced a long lay off for him.  Michael has ridden plenty of winners, and Group winners for us and I am sure I speak for everyone to say how great it is to see our former Champion Jockey back in the saddle.

Reflecting on the weekend as I sign off, one of the things I enjoyed most about being at Matamata on Saturday was spending time walking through the stables and feeling the pride in the quality of our team. I can honestly say that this is the best group of people we have ever had in the history of Te Akau Racing. Their professionalism, care and attention to detail is exceptional, and the results we are seeing on the track are a direct reflection of that.

As you know each morning and night when I’m at the farm I make a point of walking through and inspecting all the yearlings. One colt I simply cannot believe people seem to have overlooked is Lot 499, a Dundeel colt out of Luna Mia that I bought from Arrowfield Stud at the Magic Millions' sale. He is a really classy individual, and Karyn and I are both going to take a share in him ourselves. Everyone remembers the feats of Dundeel, well check out this colt, he is a strapping individual that shouldn't be bypassed.

We are now less than three weeks away from the second Champions' Day at Ellerslie on 7 March - this includes the 2026 NZB Kiwi, worth $4 million this year.  It is very likely our stable will be represented by up to three contenders as we try to go back to back.  It won't be easy with the stand-out filly who dominates the market.

On Saturday we announced He Who Dares as our Te Akau slot runner.   As I say the favourite is the benchmark, and she did beat He Who Dares in the Karaka Millions' 3YO by six lengths but on Boxing Day she only defeated him by a short neck.  She will carry another three kilograms (half a stone) this time, and you'd hope the margin could be even closer but she is all class and, as we know, anything an happen in racing.  

It will be a huge day and we can't wait with a number of stable starters lining up in other features of day which include the $1.25 million Group 1 NZ Derby, $1 million Group 1 Bonecrusher Stakes, $550,000 Group 1 Sistema Stakes, $600,000 Group 2 Auckland Cup, $600,000 Group 2 Al Basti Equi World Dubai, amongst a ten-race programme.

Best of luck to all our owners with runners at Riccarton on Wednesday and Ellerslie this weekend. We look forward to seeing many of you there.  I will be at Ellerslie while Karyn travels to Melbourne.

Have a great week ... GO THE TANGERINE!