Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

On Saturday we saw the completion of the Auckland Cup Carnival and Karyn and I attended all three days.  I thought the track was really good and there was a some great racing.

The protest in the Group 1 Ronald McDonald House Charities WFA was, in my opinion, a 50/50 call.  I was not surprised to see the horse that went past the post retain the race in the circumstances.  I have noticed over the years that a protest in these big races is a no-win for anybody because you always feel sorry for the connections of the horse that does not win the protest.  And for the horse that wins it, it does take a bit of shine off the result. The bottom line is I thought Matt Cameron outrode every other jockey in that particular race so well done Matt for winning another Group 1 at Ellerslie.

One thing I have noticed about driving to and from Auckland a lot recently is that the traffic that has developed on that motorway in the last twelve months or so is just diabolical. It took me 40 minutes to get from Takanini to Ellerslie on Saturday late morning.  It does not seem to matter now what time of the day I drive through Auckland there are always traffic jams.

Going back five to ten years when I was involved in board meetings in Auckland you used to be able to start a meeting at 10 o'clock knowing that between 9.15am and 10am the traffic would be all cleared but that is certainly not the case anymore.  You would think with all the tax we pay on petrol that our roading system would be better than what it is.  Especially in and out of New Zealand's largest city.  To me it shows a total lack of any sort of planning from Auckland city politicians.

The highlight of our weekend was the huge run of form that Mark Walker is having in Singapore and he is now eight in front on the Singapore Trainers' Premiership.  We are so lucky to have Gus and Karen Clutterbuck in Singapore to help Mark along with Stephen Crutchley - they all make a great team.

On Friday night Alpha Centauri won a SGD$60,000 race.  This is a horse that I bought at the Karaka Select Sale for $60,0000 and his Singapore stake money has now passed $220,000.  Then on Sunday Mark won with a first starter by Danroad called Kam's Comet that we bought in New Zealand as a trial winner. There were many other first three placings over the weekend by the team too.

The one thing that I have noticed with our horses is that they are all racing well in Singapore.  They look amazing and are racing accordingly.   The horses' coats all look healthy and vibrant and they are racing out of their skin.

We had 13 mls of rain over the weekend and the temperatures are just starting to cool off a bit so hopefully we will get our autumn rain in the next two weeks and the grass can start growing again.

Last week I was at a most enjoyable function at Pencarrow Stud and I was thrilled to see their Frankel colt out of Madame Echezeaux.  Madam Echezeaux  is a full sister to Grand Echezeaux and this colt will proceed to the Karaka Yearling Sales in 2016 where he will create a lot  of interest.

Another great result for us this weekend was seeing the Snitzel colt Wandjina winning the very prestigious Group 1 Guineas in Melbourne on Saturday.  This colt trained by Gai Waterhouse was bought for $1 million at Sydney at Easter and looks like a horse that will go all the way. He currently holds nominations for either the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (worth $4 million) or the Arrowfield Sprint at Randwick on 11 April and then Group 1 Doncaster.

We also bought a Snitzel colt at the Karaka Premeir Sale this year.  He is in a syndicate with a Fastnet Rock colt and a Fastnet Rock filly and there is one 10% share remaining in this syndicate. The Fastnet Rock colt is a half brother to Triple Honour who won the Group 1 Doncaster and of course the Fastnet Rock filly topped the sale and is out of Il Quello Veloce.  Click on this link to enjoy a video clip of the syndicate that we have put together and you can buy a 2.5% share for $40,000, a 5% share for $80,000 or the 10% share for $160,000.  These three yearlings are just absolutely stunning and have been very popular.

https://teakauracing.com/news/te-akau-tv-te-akau-2015-breeding-syndicate/

Another highlight for the weekend was our second youngest daughter Lydia running in the Surrey Half marathon in Woking, UK our vet Doug Black's sister Catherine - the two have become very close friends in London.  Lydia is absolutely stoked having finished the  half marathon in one hour 57 minutes, slashing eight minutes off her personal best.  She is so excited - as you can see from the photo of a very happy young lady after just crossing the finish line.  We understand she enjoyed roast pork and a nice red as a reward!