Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

What a truly sensational week for Te Akau Racing and I cannot tell you how proud I am of all the team that have worked so hard to produce these unbelievable results.

I did not go to Riccarton this past weekend as we have got a particularly busy week with the Ready to Run Sale and I wanted to stay fully focused on buying the next Xtravagant at these sales.  We also had cattle going to the works on Sunday morning and we had a sick foal at the farm that I wanted to stay and make sure was 100% happy and I hate leaving the farm with horses like Xtravagant here (although we have an excellent farm team might I add heqded up by Jason Smith).

Because I only buy a smaller number of horses at the Ready to Run Sale, they always sell very quickly so if you are interested in having a share in a horse from the sales it would certainly pay to email Karyn at [email protected]  today to make sure you are on the priority list.

I have seen a number of horses catalogued for the sale that are absolute stand-outs and that could be ready to race in seven or eight weeks' time.  Two of these horses could well be at Riccarton this time next year for the Guineas' races.

Last year I bought a very, very good filly called Interstellar for $130,000. She won her first start in Taupo in August by three lengths and you will hear a lot more about this filly in the autumn.  I also bought the Singapore Champion Polytrack Horse of the Year Flying Fulton for $210,000.  He won approximately $1.3 million - and there have been many others that have won races for us out of this sale.

What a wonderful month the New Zealand thoroughbred industry has had.  I guess at the recent carnival in Melbourne we might have had 2.5% of the horses running in terms of Kiwi-breds and we must have won 40% of the black type races including the Group One races that really mattered like the Derby, the Melbourne Cup and the Emirates Mile.

Saturday at Riccarton was one of those great days when you sit down to watch the first runner, she wins and you think "we could be in for a good day"!

Vive La Difference was brilliantly ridden by Matt Cameron.   She came through a needle-size gap and I was just so thrilled.  She has been quite an unlucky filly and last season she was a difficult filly to train so to see her win like she did was outstanding and I think she will go through and win Group races in the autumn.

Then the very next race we had Flaming and Madame Jamai.  Madame Jamai ran fourth (after winning at Riccarton on the first day) and Flaming won very stylishly with Michael McNab in the saddle. Flaming has also been a very challenging horse and her owners have shown a lot of patience.  After running second in the Gold Trail Stakes in the last season, nothing had gone right for this mare.  She has been difficult to train because she does tie up from time to time but it was certainly a convincing win which showed me that she has got quite a bit more in the tank.

I was interested to hear on social media about the criticism of Flaming's strapper with some losers pointing out that she is only nine years old.  The strapper was of course Tommy Hazlett and Pam Gerard's beautiful daughter Meg.  And let me tell you that Meg is a much better horsewoman than a lot of 20 year olds. She  has a full stable pass from New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing to lead horses around and she is a star in the making.  She is a credit to her parents and she will be a great attribute to racing in the future.

Personally I love having young people involved.  I see a lot of young people today who are a bit lazy but Meg is quite the opposite.  She loves getting to the track at 4.30am and putting in a full day's work. She just loves her racing and I am trying to encourage young people to get involved in our great industry (main picture).

Our very next Riccarton runner was the two year old Sassy'N'Smart and I just thought, wow what a filly.  She is the only two year old filly that we have started as most of the young horses we have bought are more Derby colts and Oaks' fillies rather than precocious two year olds but there is nothing quite like seeing a smart two year old.

To win a stakes' race with this filly was not only a great achievement for the team that looks after her but also a great thrill for Arrowfield Stud in Australia.  Sassy'N'Smart is Smart Missile's first runner, first winner and first stakes' winner so I think I am in the Arrowfield's team's good books! She is a beautiful filly that Jamie Richards and I identified in Sydney at Easter.

This was the fifth Te Akau Welcome Stakes' victory.

Then two races later we watched the field for the 1000 Guineas and saw a fantastic performance from Risque who we train for The Oaks Stud's Dick Karreman.  We also watched really good efforts from Special Memories for fourth and Princess Davone not too far away.  The win by Risque was even more exciting for me as she is by Darci Brahma.

I have told you on this web site many times what a great sire Darci Brahma is.  He is currently the leading sire by earnings in New Zealand with his progeny in New Zealand having already earned $776,390.  He leaves two year olds, three year olds, four year olds. He leaves horses that race from 800m to 3200m.  He leaves horses that run on firm tracks, soft tracks, heavy tracks.  He is just a really great sire and Te Akau has seven mares going to Darci Brahma this year.

All up at this Spring Carnival we had a total of 17 wins from 36 starters including the Canterbury Belle Stakes, Ray Coupland Stakes, Armadillo Stakes, the 2000 Guineas (our fifth 2000 Guineas' in 12 years), the 1000 Guineas (our fourth 1000 Guineas in eight years) and the Welcome Stakes (for the fifth time). This is a massive achievement from all my team.Well done to all the team who have worked so very hard and to all our owners who have supported me.

It is interesting to remember too that all three of Te Akau's former Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas' winners went on to win the prestigious NZB Filly of the Year contest - Insouciant, King's Rose and Costa Viva.  There are eight further black type races to come in this series, culminating in the Group 1 NZ Oaks on 19 March 2016.

So this carnival delivered our ninth Guineas win on the Riccarton track and that is a record I am unbelievably proud of  Wasn't it great to see such a big crowd at Riccarton on Saturday.  The atmosphere looked wonderful.  Karyn and Julia-Rose were there looking after our owners reporting that they all had a fantastic day and why wouldn't they?

I am just so lucky to have a wife and children who are as passionate as I am about racing and it was great to see the excitement that Karyn and Julia-Rose got from the wins.  There's nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve.  We just get so excited for our training team, staff and owners when these successes come.

What has made me even happier this weekend is the 28mls we have had on the farm this weekend.  The farm is very green and we have plenty of grass.  We have ten paddocks shut up for haylage and this is being cut as soon as the weather clears.