Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

It was a very satisfying weekend for Te Akau Racing, highlighted by our Group 2 win in the $250,000 Wellington Guineas with a Snitzel filly called Origin of Love, who is part of our 2024 Magic Fillies’ Breeding Syndicate of two fillies.

It was a terrific performance and a 10/10 ride by Craig Grylls - a great result for all involved as she is now a very valuable filly indeed with two Group successes under her belt, as well as a raft of other black type performances - warmest congratulations to her owners. She is a filly that has had a busy season and she has been superbly managed by both our northern and southern teams.  

As she entered her 3YO season, she trialled at Avondale in August 2025, and recorded her first win in September 2025.  After finishing 5th in the Group 3 Barneswood Farm Stakes won by stablemate Cool Aza Rene, she came out and won the Group 3 War Decreee Stakes later in October.  

A tilt at the Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas took place in November during Cup Week when she was again fifth and then she enjoyed a brief let up before travelling back north in mid December via the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes, where she ran a very good second. That form continued to Ellerslie on New Year's Day 2026, with a rousing effort for second in the Group 2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes.

Towards the end of January, Origin of Love was 4th in the Group 2 Lowland Stakes before finishing 3rd on Champions' Day in the Windsor Park Stud 3YO Trophy.  The model of consistency, she gave every indication another black type success was waiting in the wings, and so it came to pass on Saturday.  A well deserved reward for a tenacious and tough filly who will now enjoy a good break at Te Akau Stud.

We have had great success with our filly partnerships over the years, producing top-class fillies that have gone on to perform at the highest level. Just think of horses such as Imperatriz, Avantage, Entriviere, Campionessa, Captured By Love to name a handful - it’s a model we are very proud of, and one that continues to deliver outstanding results for our owners. 

We actually still have a final share (10%) available in this year’s Magic Fillies’ Partnership which is registered for GST - if you are interested, it's a great opportunity to race two seriously well bred fillies.

Please see the links below to our website to check out the two girls for 2026 - the shares are taken in both and they are pedigrees to die for - you would be welcome to take the 10% share, or 7.5%, 5% or 2.5% whatever suited you!

Our Extreme Choice/Deroche filly - simply a stand-out:

https://www.teakauracing.com/yearling/lot-214-extreme-choice-aus-deroche-aus-chestnut-filly

Our Snitzel/Carry On Alice filly - as nice a Snitzel filly as you would find:

https://www.teakauracing.com/yearling/lot-148-snitzel-aus-carry-on-alice-saf-bay-filly

On Saturday we also recorded our 100th win for the season with Perlino, which is a fantastic achievement and a real credit to the whole team across Te Akau - Riccarton, Matamata and the farm. Success like this is built on consistency, attention to detail, and the care and dedication shown to the horses every single day.

A big shout out to our apprentice Hayley Hassman who also hit the career 50 wins - Hayley is riding in super form and deserves every success that comes her way.  She is a very dedicated and hard working individual who has already won 29 races this season.  We are all very proud of her.

Wasn’t it exciting for New Zealand to then see James McDonald break the all-time record of Group One wins at a great day of racing at Rosehill.

James won his first Group One on a filly that Mark Walker and I bred called Special Mission, and when James was only 16 years old, he was our stable jockey, so we have been good mates for a long time.

It has been incredibly rewarding to watch his journey from those early days through to becoming the best jockey in the world. Achievements like this don’t happen by chance – they are the result of immense dedication, natural ability, and an unwavering work ethic - he has those all and in spades.

I have been particularly impressed with the way he handled the media. Wasn’t it lovely to see his two little daughters there with their grandmother to witness the record being broken. Moments like that remind you that behind all the success, it’s still very much about family.

It’s just a great thrill for everybody – well done James!

Yesterday we won a race at Matamata with a Written Tycoon filly called Typhoon Lucy who is owned by Arrowfield and our good friend Peter Collier. She was ridden perfectly by Michael McNab, and how good is it to see Michael back Raceday riding after such a long injury lay-off!  This daughter of Dundeel won like a filly that will win many more races and it was great to see her put it all together so well and in those famous Arrowfield colours, what a weekend they had!

Analysing our wins in the last 11 days we have won 11 races - and we haven't been racing every one of those days of course - so it's been a massive week and half for the team - well done to the owners of - 

• Seize The Day (part of last year's Colt's Partnership so check out those shares too for 2026)
  
• Novelette 
  
• Cool 'N' Fast (back to back wins)
  
• Thumbelina 
  
• She Suits Herself
  
• Legally Binding
  
• Savoir Faire (back to back wins)
  
• Charm Rose
  
• Perlino (our 100th winner for the season)
  
• Origin of Love
  
• Typhoon Lucy
  

We are sending another two units of steers to Greenlea this week. It is starting to get pretty dry now on the farm, but we still have some nice grass and there is quite a bit of rain forecast for the mid to later part of this week, which will be very welcome.

This week I am going to Sydney for the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. It really is an outstanding catalogue of colts and fillies, and we are looking forward to inspecting them. There are always some exceptional opportunities at this sale. 

If you are interested in a Sydney yearling, please feel free to give me a ring on +64 21 925 151, and I will be very happy to help you.

Have a great week ahead and .... GO THE TANGERINE!

Main picture - Perlino becomes Te Akau's 100th NZ season winner