Te Akau Monday Update

David writes from Sydney:

It is a miserable day in Sydney today and we are currently out at the sales' ground inspecting the yearlings - not the most pleasant at the William Inglis sale ground today.  Going around and inspecting the horses again today has once again reminded me how incredibly lucky we are to have our Karaka Sales' venue - it is easily the best facility of any sale company that I have been to in the world.

I have seen some really top yearlings in this sale and I am looking forward to our second inspection today (despite the pouring rain). We have seen some outstanding yearlings and are currently narrowing our selections down.  We hope to buy a colt we have identified that has future stallion credentials and we are also going to try and buy a couple of very nice fillies from good families who have excellent future breeding potential.

It was a rare weekend just passed, that Te Akau didn't celebrate a winner in one or both countries.  In Singapore, Mark Walker and our team had five second placings and of course in New Zealand we were thwarted by the Heavy10 track at Awapuni.

Sassy "N" Smart hated the heavy conditions in Palmerston North which was a shame as her work leading into the Group 1 Manatwatu Sires' Produce Stakes had been superb.  She has had a great season, already having won a stakes' race for her owners (and being her sire Smart Missile's first winner and first stakes' winner globally) and finished a whisker second in the Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes from her wide draw.  She will now head for a spell and get ready for the NZB Filly of the Year Series and Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas.

It was very disappointing to have to scratch Heroic Valour from that same race as the track conditions went from Dead5 to Dead6 to Slow7 to Slow9 to Heavy10  - he did however enjoy the road trip!  Whilst disappointing for his owners, some of whom had flown over from Australia, we had no other option and I am really pleased that we did as he simply would not have handled the heavy going.

We will now turn him out for a spell - and what a season he has had!  Three starts for three wins - including a Group 1 and a Listed win - and as you know, his superstar sire Fastnet Rock's first two year old Group 1 winner anywhere in the world.  We know he has plenty of improvement in him for next season. We will aim him for the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas in the spring and we will hope that he can be Te Akau's 10th Group 1 winner on the famous Riccarton track.  Through that well, and after a break, we would love to bring him to Sydney for the autumn.

So a frustrating weekend in many ways however it won't be long until we are back in the winners' circle - we have had 71 wins in New Zealand this season and already 28 wins in the first three months in Singapore - so that's one off the century!  We also have a lovely team of horses to trial tomorrow at Avondale so plenty to look forward to!

I enjoyed attending the first day of The Championships in Sydney on Saturday.  The Randwick track was soft to heavy with horses on the inside running rail having literally no chance.  The racing however was top class and it was terrific to see so many top class horses in action. I thought the performance of Winx to win was one of most stand-out efforts I have ever seen on a racetrack - for a mare to give most of the field weight, look under pressure before the 800m and yet win in the manner that she did - this tells me she a true freak and they are already calling her a champion here.

There was a good article on Winx and the record books that we posted yesterday on this site so take a few minutes to read it, and remind yourself what a stunning mare she is.

Speaking of articles, last week I read a very good piece in The Informant written by Des Coppins.  The topic was the stake money that is available in Sydney this week and he compared it to the stake money in New Zealand. On Saturday at Randwick, I was fortunate to be invited to the official luncheon in the Chairman's Room.  There were six government ministers at that luncheon and I talked to most of them.  Without exception, every single minister said that they realise just how important the racing industry is to the general economy and they pointed out that for four years in a row, the Government here has reduced tax on racing.  That is, they have reduced the official duty that is placed on each bet.  This has made NSW more competitive with other gambling options and also importantly with other Australian states and indeed, other countries too.

If only our New Zealand government would appreciate the value that racing presents to our country - I know I get on my soap box about this issue - but honestly it is just so frustrating - and an ongoing problem that needs to be dealt with! If our government could finally get its head around why racing is so important to New Zealand's economy and get off its backside and act accordingly, then we could become great once again.

We are still waiting for our government to adjust the duty from the last GST increase.  It is just completely unacceptable and the government in New Zealand is the only organisation that is making money out of racing.  It is not about hand outs - it is about an economic argument that makes complete sense! I believe that the New Zealand Racing Board and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing need to have urgent meetings with government ministers and officials to review the amount of duty that the government is taking out of our industry.

Time to head back to our inspections now - actually this is the same sale where I bought the stakes' winning Sassy "N" Smart last year!  If you would like to be part of our Sydney yearling action - a horse that I am going to buy this week - then feel free to call me on my mobile 021 925 151 or email Karyn - it is going to be an exciting week for certain.