Te Akau Owner Spotlight - John Elstob

John Elstob was born and raised in Darfield, Canterbury. He employs 90 people in his business, is a board member at the Waikato Racing Club, and with partner Denise has not one but two top chances on Karaka Million night (26 January) at Ellerslie.

High-class galloper Sword of Osman(3 g Savabeel - Bunyah) contests the $70,000 Mongolian Khan Trophy (Gr. 3, 1200m) and Aotea Lad(2 g Savabeel - Corsage) in the $1m Karaka Million (Restricted Listed, 1200m).

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Aotea Lad is looking like a great chance, I feel. We've got an excellent rider on board, James McDonald, so we're super excited about that and it will be the third chance we've had in the Karaka Million. We raced his mother, Corsage, and she finished fifth in 2009 and Pinot Grey (Burgundy) finished fifth last year to Avantage (Fastnet Rock) and Sword of Osman also ran.

Sword of Osman is in race one. Last season as a two-year-old he won a Group One and a Group Three and has already won a Group Two race this season, so we're really looking forward to watching his race and then the Karaka Million. 

I've got my brother coming up from down South, a good mate from Darfield, stepdaughter as well, so we're really excited about that. We'll all stay the night in Auckland, and have a party which we've done every other year whether we've won or lost. That's horse racing.

The draws play quite a part in the Karaka Millionand we're hoping for a reasonable draw. Aotea Lad is a big strong boy and very cool - he's a bit of a dude. [John was on hand at the live barrier draw, Wednesday at Karaka, drawing barrier 12] “We've got James (McDonald) on board, so we'll be counting on him to do something special,” he said.

In the last few years, Denise and I have really enjoyed racing horses with Te Akau. We've taken shares in four or five each year and had some great success. We've been lucky, so it's been great fun, and we have horses purely with Te Akau. 

We're attracted by the people.We get on really well with Jamie (Richards) and the strappers. We get on really well with David & Karyn and David has steered us in the right direction numerous times and we're pretty happy with the part ownership we have in the horses that we do. 

We've had ten wins this season.Swing Note won three down South in the spring, Bak Da Master and Miss Scandinavia both won down there, Total Excess won and been sold, Sword of Osman has won twice. Queen of the Air won as well, in track record time, as a Maiden, which was incredible. 

David and his team that select the horses get it down to a pretty fine art.Karyn and the whole team with the communications that follow and young Jamie is very approachable and honest, and they have two of the best jockeys in their ranks. They've got a great group of people and they make you feel a part of the tangerine team. They work hard at making you feel welcome and we love being a part of it. It's great fun going to the races. 

It's great to be on the Board at Te Rapa.They're an excellent bunch of Directors that are all employed in different areas and I've certainly also learned a lot more about horse racing in my four years. Meeting new people and learning new things.

I'm in the veterinarian supply business (SVS Veterinary Supplies).My father, Basil, had a vet wholesale business in the South Island. We operate out of Palmerston North, Christchurch, and Hamilton. We've been family run for 25 years. We've got some really good staff and that makes the difference. 21 staff with over 20 years service in the business. It's been a great ride and we have a strong equine side to the business. We have a pathology unit called SVS Laboratories and a number of the big equine practices support it for blood testing etc. 

We love travelling to race meetingsand had a great time at Cup Week in November in Christchurch this year. We stayed with friends in Darfield. We were fortunate to see Aotea Lad win the Group Two on debut at Trentham, which made for an exciting trip. He seemed to balance up and run home pretty well when he finished second in the Eclipse at Ellerslie, so hopefully that will have him ready to go and would have made him more educated on the track. 

Jamie (Richards) is very good at getting the timing right for these races and putting them in the right lead-up races beforehand. 

We've got a Makfi filly out of Corsage in the Karaka Sale (Lot 651),so everything Aotea Lad does help to increase her value. It's a great family.

We like Mr. Pickles restaurant in Hamilton, not far from SkyCity and it does not disappoint. 

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