Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

Well it was a very busy weekend for Karyn and me and indeed for the whole team - with horses racing in Christchurch in the South Island, Te Rapa in the North Island and the Gold Coast in Australia.  In Singapore, there was only the Friday meeting as Kranji had raced the previous Sunday and Monday due to a public holiday.

Whilst we didn't quite get the winning spoils, our horses chasing black type races performed very well indeed.  Our two babies Cousteau and Aquilo, both last start winners, lined up in the South and the North.  Cousteau, an Exceed and Excel colt that I purchased from the January Gold Coast Sale last year, ventured to Christchurch for a taste of Riccarton Park when contesting the Listed Champagne Stakes and ran home very nicely behind the hot favourite for second.  The favourite is something of a course specialist, having won five of six starts and all at Riccarton Park so she was always going to be a force to be reckoned with, however Cousteau (or Marco as we know him) acquitted himself well.  He looks an exciting prospect for the upcoming 3YO season.

Meantime at Te Rapa is was Aquilo (who we call Eagle) who set about adding black type to his CV - he is a Snitzel colt that I purchased from Karaka for $200,000 and, a last start winner at just his second start, he's a half-brother to Champion 2YO Marky Mark.  He didn't have a lot of luck in the running, nevertheless he showed plenty of heart to fight on for third place and he too will be one to watch in the coming 3YO season.  Both of these colts have a great deal of upside.

Across the Tasman the second of our team stepped out - and in the case of Heroic Valour - it was his first start in Australia.  Shocking Luck of course was Te Akau's first Australian runner for our campaign team and he finished runner up on the tricky Ipswich track last Monday.  On Saturday Heroic Valour was having his first start since his gallant fourth against the older horses in the Group 1 NRM Sprint at Te Rapa in February.  A Group 1 winning son of Fastnet Rock, that was the only time in his career that he hadn't finished in the top three and he was obviously keen to keep his hugely consistent record intact.

Unfortunately he copped a nasty draw (15) and Opie Bosson had limited choice other than to work him up quickly, landing him in a beautiful spot - he fought on really bravely in the straight but just couldn't quite pick up the winner, going down only about a head to finish runner up in the Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas, a race we have won before with King's Chapel.  So now Heroic Valour does have an Australian Group performance added to his fine CV and we look forward to his next start.

All going well, we are looking forward to three runners at Doomben this coming weekend - Shocking Luck continues his quest towards the Group 1 Queensland Derby while Zambezi Warrior and Hall of Fame look well as they head towards their first Australian assignments.

On Sunday Karyn and I welcomed the Gingernuts' brigade to Te Akau Stud - we enjoyed a fabulous video of his wins put together by our daughter Julia-Rose and we toasted "Jerry's" success with bubbles and nibbles before going out to inspect the lad himself.  As always Gingernuts was in a relaxed mood and everyone had a great time being able to see him, give him and pat and have a photo taken with him. We also paraded his full brother Griffin, who is in the next paddock to Gingernuts, and side by side, they made for quite spectacular viewing.  The main picture is of Gingernuts on the left and Griffin on the right.

Gingernuts is not far off from heading back into the stable to prepare for a campaign that, if everything goes well, will see him aimed towards a Caulfield/Melbourne Cup attack.  When you see him with his cover off, he has really furnished into a beautiful horse, he has gained plenty of weight here at the farm and looks in magnificent order - you can see he is taking the step up from three to four. Griffin meantime, after going one better than his older brother and winning on debut, will enjoy a break before we send him back to the stable with an eye on the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas.

We were desperately saddened to learn that two of our very special owners Bill and Robyn Taylor, who are involved in both Gingernuts and in Griffin, lost their son Heath in a motorcyle accident last week.  It is just such tragic news and their beloved son's (and husband's and father's) funeral took place on Thursday.  We are sure Griffin raced the day prior with "angel wings" on his shoulders when he won - we are all thinking of you Bill and Robyn, with truly heavy hearts.

This week I am involved with the sale at Karaka and then the focus will turn to the June Gold Coast Sale.  With all of our new 37 yearlings now sold, if you are keen on being involved in a promising young horse, do let Karyn know and we will keep you up to date with our Queensland purchases.  This has been a very successful sale where I have bought horses of the calibre of Princess Coup, Integrate, Tell A Tale and Costa Viva.

I hope you have a good week and I will report back later this week with an update on our all our horses' and farm news.