Te Akau Saturday Update

David writes:

What an exciting time to be part of the New Zealand racing and breeding industry.

You really have to take your hat off to New Zealand Bloodstock and the Auckland Racing Club, as well as NZTR, for putting on such an exciting evening of quality racing this Saturday.  And the day has finally dawned for 2021.

The Karaka Million race meeting has to be the highlight of the racing calendar. It is New Zealand's richest race day, and there is just nothing like the electric atmosphere on course.  Every hospitality area has been sold out, and there is limited general admission available - Ellerslie is the place to be this Saturday!

Te Akau Racing has the favourite in five of the six races and I am lucky enough to have purchased all of these horses.

Horses that I have bought are also stepping out in every race, so it is incredibly rewarding for our wonderful team of owners to be given the opportunity for their horses to run for such good stake money.

As you may be aware, the Karaka Million leads into our most busiest time of the year - the yearling sales.

We spent Friday and this morning having our second and third look at our shortlist. By lunchtime the massive job will be completed.  The team is super organised and I am really looking forward to the sale, which begins at 1pm on Sunday afternoon.

For those of you who are unable to make it to the sales complex over the next few days, the sales will be broadcast live on Sunday via channel 263 (which is a pop up channel). From Monday, they will be broadcast from channel 200 for the remaining days. You can also can watch them live on the NZB website (www.nzb.co.nz).

If you would like to be involved in buying a horse outright or taking a small share in a nice colt or filly, now is the time to get in touch. Feel free to ring me on 021 925 151 - you will be made to feel very welcome.

Ill never forget a few years ago, I had a potential owner contact me and the next day they came out and had lunch with me at the sales. By the end of the day, we had a new owner who finished up buying a 10% share in Avantage - a mare who needs very little introduction. This is not a one-off, it happens all the time!

All the paddocks are ready for our new yearlings, thanks to our Te Akau Stud team. They have been working overtime to ensure that the farm is ready for our new arrivals. They will go onto lush Te Akau grass for several weeks before they are brought in to begin their early education.

I would like to congratulate Don Hancock, Liz Whelan and the team at Raceform. I am currently holding the latest issue in my hands, and what an incredible publication it is. It is a true asset to our industry - the form guide and very interesting stories are published every week.

This publication replaces the old Friday Flash and The Informant. If you would like to receive a copy, give the team a call on 0800 504 704. Even though the race fields aren't finalised until mid-morning on a Wednesday, we receive our copies of Raceform in our office at Te Akau Stud by 9am Thursday morning. What an incredible service!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the stables best of luck for their runners tonight at Ellerslie and to all the buyers at the sales this week.

As I have said before, it really is an extraordinary time to be involved with racing in New Zealand and I am really looking forward to seeing how the next few days unfold.

Best of luck to all our owners for Saturday - we hope to see you all there!