Te Akau New Year's Eve Update

David writes:

Karyn and I would like to wish all our owners and friends the very best for a great New Year's Eve and we hope that have a brilliant start to 2020 - a new year that brings you an abundance of all things important to you and those you dearest to you!

Racing in 2019 ended in fine style for Te Akau in New Zealand with the team winning half the card yesterday at Taupo - Jamie won his 58th race for the season with an impressive strike rate of 5.1.

Of course the end of 2019 in Singapore is also the end of the racing season, which differently to New Zealand runs to a calendar year. No question of the 2019 highlight - Mark Walker winning his third Trainers' Premiership (in nine years) and by quite a margin too.

One of the biggest thrills I have had is seeing Mark become such a dominant training force in Singapore - just as he was in New Zealand. A fine horseman, his third Singapore title stands alongside his five New Zealand Premierships.

Karyn and I have had a pretty busy year syndicating 70 horses and we would like to thank all our investors who joined the team we are so lucky at Te Akau to have the best owners in the world - both new and long-standing.

Yes, 2019 has been a wonderful year for Te Akau with other highlights including the Hawke's Bay Group 1 Triple Crown being won for the first time - by our Melody Belle - a horse I purchased for only $57,500. 

Of course, Melody Belle's amazing Group 1 Australian win in the Empire Rose Stakes was another proud moment, as was her runner up finish in the Group 1 Mackinnon from a nightmare draw.

In total this year Te Akau won NINE Group 1 races for our owners. On top of this even with our horses drawing the outside in every race in Sydney and Melbourne, our horses won about $2 million in Australia in 2019.

We also salute the inspired Australian efforts of Group 1 placegetters Probabeel and Te Akau Shark and Group 3 Sydney winner Avantage - all horses that I bought from Karaka, where our focus has currently returned to with the sales at the end of January.

Karyn and I are also pretty excited about going back to Melbourne and Sydney this coming autumn to attack the elite Australian events with more horses.

Te Akau also celebrated the Champion 2YO for 2018/19, the Champion Sprinter/Miler and Champion Horse of the Year announced in September.

We also had our third consecutive Karaka Million winner - in fact, even more proudly, Te Akau ran the Karaka Million trifecta.

Amongst our personal and family highlights was of course our daughter Julia-Rose marrying Hamish and in February her sister Lydia will marry Jamie Roseby - so 2020 will be a wonderful time for our family too.

In January as I mentioned, our total focus is on the yearling sales on the Gold Coast and at Karaka so please get in touch if you would like to invest with the team - you will be made to feel very welcome.

Te Akau truly is blessed with the owners we have and again we thank you - we will always aspire to do our very best with all your horses, to bring out the potential and ability in each and every one.

We have a strong team to race at Ellerslie tomorrow so best of luck to those owners and ...

GO THE TANGERINE!!!

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