Te Akau Monday Update
What a great day of racing it was on Champions' Day at Ellerslie on Saturday. It was an event that the whole industry should be very proud of. There was a tremendous crowd on course, a fantastic atmosphere throughout the day, and the quality of the horses competing was exceptionally high.
We were delighted to win two races on this massive day of racing - it was great to see Top Shelf claim the first on the programme, the $80,000 Elsdon Park Stakes, for the Fell family and Fairdale Stud. It is a privilege to train for this very special family with such a long and proud history in New Zealand racing.
Our second win was in the $550,000 Group 1 Sistema Stakes and to record our eighth victory in this two year old feature was particularly satisfying. Lara Antipova remains unbeaten, four starts for four wins and will now head across the Tasman to our Cranbourne stable to target Australian black type races. She is a Russian Revolution filly I purchased alongside Fortuna Racing from the Magic Millions' Sale and she does look special - congratulations to her ownership team.
It was a race we also won last year with Return To Conquer, who recorded the 100th Group One win for Te Akau.
Te Akau also went within a nose of winning the $4 million NZB Kiwi for the second year in a row - it was incredibly close with Belle Cheval storming home from well back and her wide draw to push the hot favourite to a short head - we were exceptionally proud to see her finish second. He Who Dares finished strongly for third, while To Bravery Born and La Dorada both raced solidly in such a high-class field.
Well done to David Archer and Diane Wright who bred Belle Cheval, and race her together with their family - she too has an exciting time ahead of her as she will now travel to Sydney with the Group 1 Vinery Stakes on her radar.
There was, I suppose, a sense of what might have been. The dramatic finish in the NZB Kiwi saw a protest lodged after Belle Cheval’s narrow defeat, which was ultimately dismissed. Only moments later, at Flemington, Damask Rose - last year’s inaugural NZB Kiwi winner - was beaten by a nose in the Group 3 De Bortoli Wines Matron Stakes. It was her third Group placing in her three starts this campaign, she is racing so competitively, a winning turn must be close.
Overall, there were several excellent performances throughout the day. Origin Of Love fought bravely for a very close third in the $100,000 Windsor Park Trophy, while Bolli Belle ran well for sixth in the same race. Quintessa finished strongly for third in the $600,000 Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Classic, and Towering Vision finished his race off solidly in the $1.25 million Group 1 HKJC World Pool New Zealand Derby.
We can be very proud of Champions' Day and the event it is evolving in to - horses competed for overall prize money of $8.5 million in prize money, including the $4 million NZB Kiwi, which is now the richest race for three-year-olds in the Southern Hemisphere.
On such a massive day of racing, enormous credit goes to the performances of the horses and the team. Our horses really acquitted themselves well and a huge thank you goes to our amazing team, who put in all the hard work behind the scenes with our them. We simply could not achieve these results without such dedicated and passionate people who live and breathe what they do!
Did you know that Te Akau owners won collected $1,734,250 in prize money on the day?
It was wonderful to see so many of our owners at the races, and we always look forward to those opportunities to spend time together. Seeing our owners enjoying the day is always one of the highlights for us.
A yearling that I would like to put the spotlight on this week is Lot 131, a Snitzel filly out of Bubbleberry, which I bought from the Magic Millions sale.
This filly has settled in very well at Te Akau Stud and is doing exceptionally well since arriving home in New Zealand. It must be that lush Te Akau grass! She is developing into a very strong, well-balanced young filly and is already showing the presence and attitude that suggest she will handle the next phase of her preparation with ease. It is always an exciting time seeing these young horses begin to develop, and the team at the stable can’t wait to begin working with them.
Below is her photo, and here is the link to our website where you can see her video and further details: https://www.teakauracing.com/yearling/lot-131-snitzel-aus-bubbleberry-aus-bay-filly
If you would like to have a chat with me about this filly, or any of the other horses we have available, please feel free to call me anytime on +64 21 925 151 or email Karyn at [email protected].
We would be very happy to talk you through the process or recommend a horse that might suit you best. There truly is a horse out there for everyone and all budgets, and there is nothing more thrilling than racing a horse with your family or friends.
Turning to the farm, things are starting to get a little bit dry now, although the grass is still holding up well for March. We sent a unit of lambs to Wilson Hellaby last week, which killed out at 18kgs, and this week we sent two units of steers to Greenlea, with another three units of steers ready to go.
Looking ahead, we have some nice runners with good chances coming up at Matamata on Wednesday, Ashburton on Thursday, Pukekohe on Friday and Tauranga on Saturday in New Zealand and we will of course be in action in Victoria too.
Best of luck to all our owners with runners this week and GO THE TANGERINE!