Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

"Rain, rain go away" - gee are we all sick of this rain??

Another 55mls of rain fell at Te Akau Stud in the last few days but luckily, although the school was closed and the staff who don't live on the property couldn't get to work with the roads blocked with slips, there was no further damage at Te Akau Stud.

This week we are busy shearing on the farm.  We have 3000 lambs, 800 hoggets and 2300 ewes so we are pretty keen to see a bit of fine weather.  Our woolshed has six stands so we get through our stock fairly quickly, normally averaging about 1500 sheep per day.

I bought my first farm in 1979 and this is easily the worst Spring we have ever had.  For the first time in six months, it hit 20 degrees today and the forecast for the next four days is okay - not brilliant but passable - so fingers crossed!

Racing is a different business to many others and one of the things I truly love about it most, is that there is a winning post every Saturday for our performance to be judged.

This past weekend started off in fine style with Mark Walker training yet another winner at Kranji and making it 80 wins for a season that has been a brilliant one for our Singapore stable.  The win came with Redwood 4YO Discretely Red who is owned by a team of Kiwi owners who decided to send him to Singapore to race and we knew it wouldn't be long before he broke through.  I bought this colt for just $30,000 from the Karaka Premier Sale and he has now earned $24,333 in just five starts - as well as $3,600 in starters' incentives.  Well done to his owners.

Then on Saturday, we went within a head of winning races at all three thoroughbred racing venues - exciting young Fastnet Rock filly Avantage cruised home by six lengths at Riccarton and at that same track, Savabeel mare Grazia won the $50,000 Listed Spring Classic earning valuable black type.  Speaking of black type, Encosta de Lago filly Swing Note rattled home after being inconvenienced to claim third, and valuable black type for her too, in the Listed Zacinto Stakes.  I bought all three of these girls and they are gorgeous individuals.

Trentham was the location of further Saturday success as Savabeel colt Embellish won his final lead-up race before heading south to contest the $500,000 Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas in Christchurch on 11 November.  He is part of our Te Akau 2016 Breeding Syndicate and I bought him from the Karaka Premier Sale - we will be aiming for our sixth success in 13 years in this iconic race.  Queen of the Air, a 2YO filly I purchased from the Gold Coast January Sale, also performed with credit to finish fourth in the Listed Wellesley Stakes at only her second start and her first "big trip away" - she too looks a promising individual.

At Ellerslie on Saturday, greenness probably cost Al Hasa (an Exceed and Excel colt from our Te Akau 2017 Breeding Syndicate) a debut win - he is a very promising young horse out of the very good race mare Oasis Rose - so watch this space with him.

This season Te Akau has already won more prizemoney in New Zealand than any other stable (a record we were proud to claim last season) and with a great strike rate currently of 4.5 - well done team, I am very proud of you all.

Did you know that the weekend before, we finished second in the Group 1 Livamol Classic and also in a big Group 2 in the United Kingdom?  You all know that Gingernuts just got beaten in the Livamol Classic, well the same thing happened in England when Torcedor (a horse that I bought for 70,000 euros in France) just got beaten in the Group 2 Stayers' Championship by the hugely talented Order of St George.  The straight at Ascot is the longest I have seen and our horse led all the way up the straight and was only headed in the last stride to run a hugely brave second in the event over two miles which carries a stake of 350,000 British pounds.  Interestingly, Torcedor was also beaten by Order of St George when second in the Group 1 Irish St Leger but we did come out on top previously, beating him in the Group 3 Vintage Crop Stakes at The Curragh.

So with a purchase price of only 70,000 euros (which today is NZ$118,802), I am proud he has now won 396,634 euros in prize money or NZ$673,315.  I am going back to Europe next year to buy a yearling with the aim of having a crack at winning the English Derby which is the race I bought Torcedor for.  That's him below fighting out the finish - he has a huge heart and Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer Jessica Harrington is doing a great job preparing him.

Gingernuts has come through his run at Hawkes Bay in great shape and is travelling to Melbourne on Wednesday with Kerry Jones to contest the A$2 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes, a weight-for-age event over 2000m, on 11 November.  This race was previously known as the Mackinnon Stakes and is now raced on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Have you also noticed how well our team down south is going?  Dan Miller is looking after our team there with Tegan and Meg and what a job they are doing! Yesterday morning at 7.30am, Embellish crossed Cook Strait from Wellington with Teina Walters and next Wednesday Te Akau Shark will fly south - these two are the top two favourites for the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas.  We will also start Age of Fire in this classic race - he is improving every day and will be peaking at just the right time for the Guineas.

On Saturday morning before I headed to Ellerslie, I was quite shocked to hear a completely uninformed broadcaster on Newstalk ZB who gave racing the biggest bagging of all time.  I should name and shame him because he seriously had no facts and was spouting off completely ridiculous, unfounded and blatantly untrue comments.  It was a disgrace.  I would like to tell him to conduct some research and learn what a fantastic contributor this industry is to export earnings, to employment, to the overall economy!  I wonder what he has achieved in his life if he can't even bother to speak from an accurate platform and try at least to know and understand what he is talking about.  It is just such irresponsible 'journalism' if you can call it that - he was raving on about why have a Minister for Racing and what a joke it was - then his co-host chimed in with 'yes why don't we have a Minister for Fashion or for Gumboots" - seriously??!!  I hope the racing authorities get a transcript and set them right - here is my message to them:

"I would like you to get out of bed really early and go to track work at the Matamata or Cambridge training centres tomorrow morning and see for yourself the hundreds of young people, industrious and dedicated people, passionate in their work, and working their butts off - all contributing to an industry that this country can actually be so proud of.  An industry that produces international champions - human and equine - an industry that makes a big contribution to GDP and that punches well above its weight on the world stage.

If you think I was fuming - yes I was - and I still am!  These sorts of people think it is fine for the rugby union to receive multi millions of tax payers' money to promote the World Cup but to bag the living daylights out of racing - I have no respect for these types of people who don't even attempt to be well informed.

HOWEVER in good news - the Singapore Turf Club is about to announce further increases in stake money - a maiden race for example is increasing to $85,000 which is about $90,900 in NZ dollars.  All Group 1 races will also be worth Singapore $1 million or about $1.07 million in Kiwi dollars.

Mark Walker, assisted by his team of Gus and Karen Clutterbuck and Robbie Hewiston, continues to go from strength to strength - and racing in Singapore is huge fun as well as lucrative.

Karyn is currently selling shares in a horse to race in Singapore that really does look the goods - a trial winner from Australia and there is only now 15% available.  He is great value so if you want a horse that is ready to go in Singapore do give Karyn a call or email her - [email protected].

I hope you have a great week ahead and that we get some sunshine - talk again soon!