Te Akau Saturday Update

David writes:

It's certainly a challenging time of the year!

This morning I had two phone calls from Jamie Richards and one from the farm ...

Jamie said: "more darned rain" while Luke Copeland on the farm said: "beautiful rain for the farm - the grass is bolting!"

That really sums up the difficulty of this time of the year - the farmer in me is very happy and the racing man in me is frustrated!

But seriously, getting these heavy tracks in the third week of October is hugely frustrating for everyone in the racing team but one thing we cannot change is the weather. I am sure that within a month we will all be wanting some rain (that's the farmer coming out again though - Ed!).

For over 20 years we have sent a team of horses south for the lead up to Cup Week in Christchurch - and this has worked very well for the stable as our results have evidenced e.g. winning 10 Group 1 Guineas' events - more than any other stable.

There are two reasons we have done this - firstly, we have always found good tracks to be the order of the day in the South at that time of the year as a rule. Secondly, we want to win black type races - however this year all we have had, are off or soft tracks so to say we are also frustrated by this is a massive understatement.

I am sure when the tracks start to improve, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) will act quickly by either facilitating extra race meetings or by splitting races. NZTR will surely be in tune with the pressing needs of its constituents.

If numbers justify it, I see no issue in staging 12 races per meeting - it's essential to get horses through the grades.

Jamie was at Flemington this morning to see Te Akau Shark and Melody Belle gallop and both horses really pleased him (main picture). It's certainly exciting for everyone, especially our owners, to have horses competing in major races in Sydney and Melbourne.

We are extremely lucky to have Craig Thornton looking after the horses in Melbourne. He is a real asset to the team and is a world-class horseman.

Last Monday we had a special team dinner at the Matamata racecourse to celebrate our team and the amazing results we are having - through their dedication and commitment to our horses. It was a most enjoyable evening and a great way for us to say 'thank you' to all our hard-working team.

Even though we are all very frustrated with the heavy tracks here in New Zealand, both of our teams are flying - and both Jamie Richards and Mark Walker are leading the Trainers' Premierships in New Zealand and Singapore respectively as you will see below.

You can imagine how proud that makes me!

Premierships are based on performances during each racing season. The jockey and trainer with the most wins at the end of the season are the Premiership winners.

		Wins	2nds	3rds	Stakes	Starts	G & L	SR
1	Jamie Richards	21	18	16	$655,238	134	3	6.38
2	Stephen Marsh	17	12	13	$307,670	141	1	8.29
3	Kevin Myers	14	14	18	$259,341	140	0	10
4	Tony Pike	11	5	5	$231,315	46	1	4.18
5	Kelvin Tyler & Aimee Tyler	10	10	10	$174,937	68	0	6.8
6	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	9	9	8	$254,120	76	2	8.44
7	Lisa Latta	8	6	12	$191,335	99	1	12.38
8	Shaun & Emma Clotworthy	8	6	8	$152,888	66	0	8.25
9	Nigel Tiley	8	5	5	$121,265	51	0	6.38
10	Allan Sharrock	8	2	5	$138,205	29	0	3.63
11	Peter & Jessica Brosnan	8	2	3	$88,015	39	0	4.88
12	Shaune Ritchie	7	7	8	$176,765	41	0	5.86
13	Team Rogerson	6	13	22	$197,123	151	0	25.17
14	Fraser Auret	6	3	2	$85,050	30	1	5
15	Michael & Matthew Pitman	5	7	7	$114,185	71	0	14.2

S/No	Trainer Name	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Unplaced	Total Runners	Strike Rate (%)
1	M WALKER	69	65	58	56	349	597	11.56
2	M CLEMENTS	48	36	35	25	211	355	13.52
3	S BAERTSCHIGER	46	27	33	24	247	377	12.20
4	C BROWN	42	37	26	25	190	320	13.13
5	D MEAGHER	41	43	34	44	163	325	12.62
6	DL FREEDMAN	35	49	45	44	184	357	9.80
7	S BURRIDGE	29	21	30	22	180	282	10.28
8	HW TAN	27	31	27	22	261	368	7.34
9	J SAIMEE	26	25	16	20	215	302	8.61
10	S GRAY	25	30	37	36	234	362	6.91
11	D LOGAN	25	26	24	18	145	238	10.50
12	H TAKAOKA	23	21	25	29	204	302	7.62
13	J PETERS	22	28	31	22	164	267	8.24
14	L DRAGON	21	12	23	17	103	176	11.93
15	R LE GRANGE	20	20	22	27	154	243	8.23

Jamie has actually had two more wins today as I write, now with 22 wins for the season. Equinox won at Rotorua and Al Haram at Ashburton - both ridden perfectly by Opie Bosson and Michael McNab. Equinox has the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas in his sights, via the Group 2 Sarten Memorial at Te Rapa on Labour Day Monday while Al Haram will likely head to the Group 3 NZ Cup via the Listed Metropolitan.

This week we have had the General Manager of the Honolulu restaurant "Michel's" to stay on the farm. Michel's is a top class restaurant right on the water at Diamond Head on Waikiki Beach and is the most beautiful setting you can imagine - the sunsets are breathtaking.

It drives me crazy that they, along with so many American restaurants, have lamb on their menus from everywhere BUT New Zealand. So this year I decided to do something about it and I asked the manager to come to New Zealand to see Te Akau Stud and to taste our beautiful, best-in-the-world lamb!

He has now headed back to Honolulu via Auckland totally convinced how good our lamb is! I will get New Zealand lamb on these menus if its the last thing I do!!

On Wednesday we had a very special event that Karyn attended.

Karyn and I are very proud to have been asked to be joint Patrons for the Riding for the Disabled (RDA) Hamilton branch - the largest of the country's 55 branches.

On Wednesday the RDA opened its brand new volunteer centre in Hamilton - what an asset this facility is. The incredible dedication and hard work of the committee and volunteers is simply remarkable. This organisation truly changes lives and makes a huge impact on the lives of so many people - with over 3000 rides every year.

Karyn was very proud, as patron, to officially open the new building and we look forward to actively throwing our support behind this wonderful organisation.

We have started this by announcing that for every Group or Listed race we win this season, we will make a cash donation to RDA Hamilton - and with three Group 1 races already this season - our giving is well underway!

We have had a great start to the day today on Saturday with our first two runners winning. Equinox, a three year old colt I bought from Karaka for our 2018 Colt Syndicate, claimed the first race at Rotorua. A special thrill for this syndicate - and after a quiet week - and a somewhat frustrated preparation due to track conditions, it was great to get the win. A pearl of a ride by Opie Bosson, as you would expect.

Then it was the turn of Al Haram, a seven year old Sea The Stars gelding who Mark Walker identified and Karyn bought and syndicated from an on-line sale. He only cost $42,500 and today posted his second win for the team in a $30,000 race at Ashburton. Michael McNab ride this gelding a treat and we now have our sights on the Metropolitan at Riccarton with the ultimate aim being the NZ Cup.

My attention is now being directed to the Ready to Run Sale in November, a sale that has the very best statistics of any sale of its type in the southern hemisphere.

We have had great success out of this sale e.g. Group 1 winners Gingernuts and Hall of Fame were purchased by me from this sale, as too dual Group winner and Australian Group 1 performer Te Akau Shark and Singapore Polytrack Horse of the Year Flying Fulton. Other horses who have been in the winner's cycle recently with more to come for sure include Luminous, Shezathinka and Axel and Broadway Success in Singapore.

It's quite incredible the good horses we have bought out of this sale. If you would like to be involved with us and go on our short list please give me a call or email Karyn - [email protected]

Have a great weekend and
GO THE TANGERINE - it's on fire!

Back