Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

It was great to see Mark Walker train yet another winner at Kranji - with Nazir saluting the judge in the last.  He is raced by the "King Owner" of Melbourne Cups, Dato Tan Chin Nam and also Fairdeal Stable - we were thrilled to win for such highly regarded international owners.

Isn't it a great time of the year with the better weather finally here?  The days are getting longer and the racing is really becoming exciting.  Derbies, the Melbourne Cup and then this weekend the start of the NZ Cup Carnival at Riccarton.

On Thursday Julia-Rose and I are going to Christchurch.  Karyn is in Wellington for the NZTR Annual Meeting as Chairman of the Waikato Racing Club and she will meet us in Christchurch later that evening.  I will go straight to Riccarton to see all of our horses.

On Friday night we are having a cocktail party for all our South Island owners who will be joined by some North Island owners who have horses racing at Riccarton the next day.

We have two really good chances in the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas this year.  Matt Cameron can choose which one he wants to ride and Michael McNab will ride the other.  Michael has a special relationship with both of the colts as he has been riding them both in work each morning and gets on really with them both.  Matt has ridden both colts to win stakes' races. It is a huge advantage to have our two colts already in the South and well settled there.

We have now won nine Group 1 races at Riccarton - and just in the past 12 years - that is more than double the number of any other stable. The first day is certainly is a very exciting day of racing.  My tradition is to watch the race in the old public stand with Dave McCarthy.  Currently we have four stallions at stud who have run in the 2000 Guineas, three of them having won the iconic race - King's Chapel, Darci Brahma, Burgundy and Rock'n'Pop.  They will be joined by last year's winner Xtravagant next season.

Talking of Burgundy, he has his first starter at the races at Otaki tomorrow with a gelding out of Pride and Passion who I bought for owner/breeder Christopher Grace.  This Encosta de Lago mare is out of a Golden Slipper winner and his trial win two weeks ago was enormous.

I have said many times these Burgundy's can really gallop and I am also delighted with how well the Rock'n'Pop's that we have in training are coming to hand. They are not early 2YOs but the riders are all very impressed with them.

On the farm, we finish shearing tonight as the last four fine days have been a huge help.

In other news, Karyn has been nursemaid this past week to our wheaten terrier Molly who had major ligament surgery last week and she is on "box rest" for the next six - eight weeks - once through that, she has to get her other back knee done - it is a major recuperation exercise and with her Elizabethan collar on combined with 'home detention', she remains fairly unimpressed with life currently.

This week we have horses racing at Ellerslie, Riccarton, Flemington, Singapore, Avondale, Te Rapa and Hawkes Bay so it is a full-on time for all the team.

If ever a horse deserves to win a race it is Shillelagh who is being ridden by the great Joao Moreira at Flemington tomorrow.  She must be the unluckiest horse we have ever had - hopefully that luck changes in the last on this auspicious Tuesday.  To all of our owners with runners - best of luck and go the TANGERINE.