Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

It has just been a magnificent spell of weather for the Waikato for the last month overall. Plenty of good, soft rainfall but also enough sun to make the grass shoot away.

I have been in the office this morning since 4.50am getting my desk all cleared because I am on the mid-day flight out of Auckland to Hong Kong where I am going to catch up with some of our very good friends and owners.

On Wednesday night I am going to Happy Valley with my travelling companion, Ian Farrelly.  Ian is a very good friend of mine and has a number of horses with Te Akau and has not been racing in Asia before so he will thoroughly enjoy it.

Then on Thursday I am flying to Singapore where I am meeting Karyn for a great weekend of racing.  Our Te Akau Singapore trainer Mark Walker has a big team racing and that will be so much fun for the 20 owners who are travelling with us.  We will post frequent updates so you can share all our news.

Mark of course is still nine wins ahead on the Trainers' Premiership - we still have seven and a half months of the season to go but so far, everything so (very) good!  It will be great to see Mark and Julia as well as our god children Zavier and Alexis, as well as Gus and Karen Clutterbuck.

We had a very busy weekend - I was in Auckland on Friday in meetings and Karyn drove up on Friday evening to join me.  We had a quiet night as she finished her tv prep and then she was up eaely to head to the studio on Saturday monring.  She was happy that it wasn't as early as when she drives from Te Akau (ie 5.30am).  On Saturday while Karyn was working I caught up with my daughter Sarah and her partner Nick and then on Saturday night Karyn and I had a lovely dinner in Auckland.

Our dinner guests were Robyn Bregmen our Administration Manager - we shouted Robyn and her husband Derek and their daughter Nicole to stay the night and to have dinner with us to say thank you to Robyn for all the hard work she does for us - she is a great person.  Also joining us a bit later were Matt Cameron and his partner Blair and then our youngest daughter Julia-Rose and her partner Hamish dropped by for a night-cap! It was great fun.

Then on Sunday I had breakfast with my eldest daughter Joanna before taking Karyn to a Mother's Day lunch with Julia-Rose, Hamish and Hamish's mother Catherine who we met for the first time.  So it was a very special and fun weekend.

Time to go as I literally have to fly!