Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

Well it looks like the weather has finally turned for the better - it is a beautiful day at Te Akau Stud and the grass is really coming away well.

The past weekend was a real example of what an emotional roller-coaster racing can be.  We started the weekend on Friday with Wide Awake winning very well at Avondale and then that night it was the turn of Mark Walker when Jack's Secret salted the judge.

What a mixed day we had on Saturday!

Poor Gingernuts - he is such a beautiful animal - so kind and so loving - he didn't deserve to finish up at the veterinary hospital.  I felt so sorry for Karyn and all of Jerry's owners who had travelled over to Melbourne to support him.  It was also a very stressful time for Stephen Autridge who was in Melbourne overseeing Jerry's campaign and especially too for the amazing Kerry Jones who has lived with Jerry in the last fortnight, taking him to the beach, feeding him, grooming him, riding him in track work.

It was such a gut-wrenching and sad day for us all. we were really afraid that he might not make it.  Thank goodness the injury didn't happen during the race itself because if he had, Jerry would certainly never be racing again and probably would not be alive.

We will know more later today when his pastern can be CT scanned and x-rayed but regardless of the diagnosis, Gingernuts will always have a home here at Te Akau Stud where he will be looked after like a King until the day he dies, that I promise you.

On the flip side, it was a magnificent day of racing at Riccarton - the Canterbury Jockey Club had the course proper in absolutely perfect condition, a credit to Tim Mills and his team.

Te Akau went within a nose of claiming the trifecta in the $500,000 Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas sponsored by Al Basti Equiworld for the first time.

All of our horses went top races with Embellish coming out on top ahead of fast finishing Age of Fire from the widest draw and the least experienced, Te Akau Shark just denied third by a nose.  I cannot speak highly enough of each of these "boys" who performed with such credit - I am just so proud of them all.

Embellish of course is a class act while Age of Fire and Te Akau Shark - wow - the way they performed, as I say, the former from the widest of draws, and the latter with the least experience, was outstanding and they are both genuine Group 1 NZ Derby contenders now for certain.

Wasn't it a beautiful ride by Opie Bosson on Embellish? He got him into the trail and never covered any extra ground.  Embellish is one of the most beautiful yearlings I have ever seen.  I rate horses at the sales with various grades and in my time, I have only ever seen about a dozen A+ yearlings.

Embellish was an A+ at the Karaka Premier Sale but he was an unattractive walker with absolutely no over-reach but apart from that, he was as perfect a horse as you would ever see.  To put it simply, he was a beautiful example of equine excellence (outside of the walk)!

Age of Fire was a completely type of different yearling - he was a magnificent walking colt with an over-reach of about 10 inches.  He had great length between his hip and his hock and was very strong.  Age of Fire is such a cool dude, he has a wonderful temperament and loves to please.  He is a real Derby colt in the making.  He drew the outside barrier for the Guineas and Matt Cameron was forced to ride him for luck, and he very nearly got there in an inspired ride!  He will be aimed at the Group 1 Levin Classic at Trentham in January, the race we won earlier this year with Hall of Fame.

Te Akau Shark was having only his third start and he went a superb race for fourth, only missing third place by a nose.  Michael McNab rode him so well, and has been a key player in treating this horse to settle.  "The Shark" too has a very, very exciting future ahead of him. He is bred to be a Derby horse and he certainly finished like one.

I bought Te Akau Shark from last year's Ready to Run Sale - the same sale that I purchased Gingernuts and Hall of Fame from the year prior. The sale starts next Wednesday and Team Te Akau will be very active so if you are keen to be involved with the stable that has won more New Zealand Group and Listed races (5) and more stake money (over $1 million) this season than any other stable - contact Karyn now - [email protected].

The win by Embellish on Saturday was the 10th NZ Guineas that Te Akau has won at Riccarton in the past 14 years.  That record is second to none and one of which we are highly proud - it is just so rewarding to deliver results like this to all of the owners who get involved with us.  Did you know one couple from Auckland are involved in all three?  Embellish, Age of Fire and Te Akau Shark - what a day they had at Riccarton!

In fact six of our owners actually quinellaed the Guineas on Saturday, yes they were involved in Embellish AND Age of Fire.

I was also impressed with the efforts of both Imperium and Grazia to finish second and third respectively in the Listed Metropolitan Trophy on Saturday too.

On Saturday evening, well known and respected journalist Kevin Bell (who has been covering races in Canterbury for a lifetime) told me that no other stable can come close to that record.  Te Akau has now won six Group 1 2000 and four Group 1 1000 Guineas at Riccarton.

Of course all this is about a team - a team of owners who believe in us and put their faith in us - I am so grateful to all the owners of every horse - people who join the team and know we will try our very, very best to have them in the winners' circle.  Thank you for investing with us, I get such a thrill seeing you all enjoying your racing so much.

It's also about a superb team at the stable and the stud who love our horses and prepare them to the minute - every person contributes massively to these results.

Can you believe that Jamie Richards, who has only been training horses for two full seasons, won his 10th Group 1 on Saturday?  What an achievement!  Stephen Autridge and Jamie are on fire at present and already the stable has again become the first in New Zealand to win over $1 million in domestic stake money - and the stable has a very impressive strike rate too.

Te Akau Racing is so lucky to have the best team members in the world - as I said before, everyone has worked so hard for these results and Dan Miller, our foreman in the South Island and who has worked for me since he was 14 years old, has done such an incredible job looking after our southern tram of horses with Tegan Newman and Meg Lambert - and Teina Walters who looks after Embellish and travelled south with him.

To all my team - well done - you are the best!!

On Sunday we continued our sponsorship support of NZ Cup Week by being the principal sponsor of the inaugural Te Akau Racing NZ Cup Week Bowls' Tournament - despite a biting nor-wester I am told at the Burnside Bowling Club, a fantastic day was had by all and it was our pleasure to support this new initiative.  Well done to Barry Bunting, Business Manager and the whole Club - a great day of camaraderie hosted by the Canterbury Sports' Club of the Year in 2016 - bigger and even better for sure next year - we will be back!

Then to cap the weekend off - Te Akau Singapore trainer Mark Walker claimed a winning double on Singapore's most important race day of the year, Gold Cup Day.  It was Mark's 83rd winner for the season and he leads the Trainers' Premiership by 26 wins - a huge effort.  With the season finishing in three weeks' time, he was aptly called "Champion Trainer designate" in one of the Singapore Turf Club's media releases last night.

One of the horses to win is a horse that you may remember in New Zealand called Kingsman - he was given to us to train at home before heading to our stable in Singapore and it was terrific to see him win a S$60,000 race on debut for Chris Rutten and his team.  Singapore stakes' - with an increase in prize money for the new season - make it a very desirable place to race a horse for sure.

Going back a few days, on Friday night I as having dinner with some friends from Sydney who had come over for the races.  They were surprised I wasn't having a drink with them!  One of them said 'if you quinella the Guineas tomorrow you are bound to have a drink' and I said 'no, no alcohol until after the Ready to Run Sale!'.  They then joked 'if you trifecta the Guineas we know you will have a drink and we will buy you a good one' - to which I agreed that if we had a trifecta in race I would definitely have a drink - I came within a nose of having to do that!!!

Karyn and I have a very busy week coming up this week - in fact Karyn left Flemington and flew out of Melbourne (her plane as delayed until after midnight Australian time) and arrived into Auckland at 5.50am - she got no sleep on there plane due to the man next to her having a coughing problem for the whole flight - got to there TV studio, showered and had "Weigh In' with no sleep for 27 hours!  I think she is hoping to catch up on some sleep but with the week we have coming up, it doesn't look likely!

We have some good chances at Te Aroha tomorrow and of course we will be racing again at Riccarton on Wednesday.  Karyn is heading down to visit her mother and she and Julia-Rose and Hamish will be at Riccarton on Saturday as we have the lovely filly Swing Note set down to contest the Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas.  She will be ridden by Opie Bosson plus we have Imperium who will be a good chance to improve on his third in last year's NZ Cup - and with his light weight, he will be ridden by Matt Cameron.  We have some other good chances too including in the Listed Barneswood Stakes for the two year olds, a race we have won five times before.

Have a great week everyone and we will keep you updated with all the news - including Gingernuts' progress.