Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

Well it was a mixed weekend in some ways but there were still plenty of highlights and performances of which we are really proud.

While we had no luck in Singapore on Friday - with two very close second placings - there were some jangled nerves going into Sunday's meeting as it was S$1.15m Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby Day. Our runner Rockfast was one of the favoured starters and a team of 20 of his owners had travelled to Singapore from New Zealand to support him.

Coming in to barrier seven after the emergencies came out, he jumped well and Manuel Nunes (Singapore's Champion Jockey) put him in the race and gave him his chance to win - we were very proud of the son of Fastnet Rock who put every inch of his heart in to finish third, earning just over S$100,000 in the process.

Today our Te Akau Singapore trainer Mark Walker reported that he was very pleased with Rockfast this morning - he has pulled up very well.  As Mark noted, it was ironic this morning that as he made his report for Rockfast's owners that it was pouring with rain - any rain on raceday would have been a huge assist for our boy - it just came 24 hours too late but that's life!  He will now be aimed at the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup in mid November - that meeting often delivers up a dead or slow track which would be ideal.

However the evening did not pass without a win for the Kiwi "assembly" to enjoy as it was great to see Mark land Viviano back in the winner's circle on Derby Day.

Viviano, a son of Keeper, previously raced in New Zealand where he won one of his nine starts for the Raffles Dancers' team.  We were delighted when they decided that the now 4YO would do his further racing out of Singapore - and selected Mark as his trainer.

Since arriving in Singapore, Viviano has put together a very nice record of three wins and a placing from only eight starts - and S$119,880 in prize money.  From his handy draw and with Manuel Nunes aboard, he settled mid-field in the S$80,000 Class 3 affair over 1200m and drew clear to win by two lengths after a patient ride.

Julia-Rose and Jamie represented us on Sunday at the special race meeting at Korchin in Inner Mongolia. It was Te Akau's first international sponsorship - the Group 2 Te Akau Racing Stakes for two year olds. There has been some difficulty getting the photos through but they will be available soon so look out for a full report shortly on a very exciting initiative that your Te Akau team was excited to be involved with!