Te Akau Shines at Horse of the Year Awards

The 2024/25 New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards were held on Sunday at GLOBOX Arena in Hamilton, and Te Akau Racing again featured in winning titles.

The black-tie event is always well supported by racing industry administrators from NZTR and Entain/TAB, Clubs, Owners, Trainers, Jockeys, Stable Staff, and the whole gambit of players that make up the thoroughbred racing fraternity in New Zealand.

Having won Horse of the Year in five of the past six years, with dual winners Melody Belle (Commands) and Probabeel (Savabeel), and last year with Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), who also won the inaugural award for Outstanding Global Achievement, Te Akau had finalists in Champion Two-Year-Old, Champion Three-Year-Old, Champion Stayer, Owner of the Year, and Trainer of the Year, while each equine finalist had a chance to be named Horse of the Year.

Of course, everyone is there to celebrate the excellence of both the thoroughbreds and the people, and Te Akau enjoyed success in three categories.

+++++++++++

Te Akau Racing trainers Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson kept alive an unbeaten six-year streak for the stable when winning their 16th Training Premiership title in the 2024/25 season, which coincided with the pair also being named Champion Trainers.

Recording a tally of 131 wins, Walker & Bergerson established a new record of $9.27 million in prize money.

As a comparison, to illustrate the increased prize money on offer in New Zealand, their record-breaking season of 203 wins and $8.25 million in stakes money was established in 2022/23 by Walker, who was joined in partnership by Bergerson to achieve 169 wins and $8 million in stakes money in 2023/24, while also in 2023/24 Walker steered the Te Akau stable at Cranbourne (Victoria) to win NZ$7.6 million in stakes money in Australia.

Including the four titles he won for the stable in Singapore, Walker, incredibly, has won 12 Champion Trainer titles for Te Akau. 

Under the tutelage of Walker, Te Akau recorded 24 wins last season in Australia, and 26 in 2024/25, while the Te Akau stable at Riccarton, managed by assistant trainer Hunter Durrant, won the South Island Trainers Premiership with 50 wins, including four stakes’ wins, three of which occurred during NZ Cup Week in November. 

Again, there was a high ratio of stakes winners: 23 in total, including three Group Ones, with 18 stakes wins in New Zealand and five in Australia.

“We had some massive highlights, winning both Karaka Million races and the inaugural NZB Kiwi Slot race, and we’re very fortunate to have a fantastic group of owners and it’s great that a lot of them are here tonight,” Bergerson said.

“We’ve got a great team of young staff, as well, which is really exciting, but we can’t do it without the support of Dave (Ellis) at the sales and buying these fantastic young horses.

“I pinch myself getting awards like these and I’m in a very privileged position, to be training alongside Mark (Walker), and with the support of Karyn and Dave.

“We’re back into it for the new season, now, and it was great to win the first Group One race yesterday with Quintessa and finish second in the other two stakes races at Ellerslie.

“Mark is a massive mentor for me, we’re good mates, and even when he’s at the stable in Cranbourne, we’re still in contact throughout each day talking about the horses.

“Getting the 100th Group One win for Te Akau was a highlight last season, when Return To Conquer won the Sistema Stakes on Champions Day at Ellerslie, and then for Damask Rose to win the NZB Kiwi was the icing on the cake. It was a surreal day.”

“Everyone looks after their horses so well,” Walker said. “We’re going into a new era in horse racing, with everything that is happening, and it’s our obligation to present racing in a true and honest perception of the industry to all of the crowd that follow it.

“I’ve been training now for 30 years and one thing that sticks out in my mind, about 28 years ago, is when Dave (Ellis) and I went on a tour of duty to Coolmore, Ballydoyle, and Kentucky, where we met D Wayne Lucas, who told us that if people want to be happy for a lifetime they should own a horse.

“Looking out here tonight, everyone loves the horse and as an industry, while we’ve tough choices to make, hopefully we’ve got the leadership to take it forward.

“We need to get behind them and we want to create a future for all the young people involved, like Sam, going forward.”

+++++++++

With both nominees for Champion Two-Year-Old (La Dorada and Return To Conquer), Te Akau was assured of success, and La Dorada became their 12th to secure that honour. 

Owned by Te Akau Solid Gold Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), La Dorada (2 f Super Seth – Gold Fever, by Savabeel) was purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $190,000, from the draft of Waikato Stud, at the 2024 Karaka Book 1 Sale.

Winning four of her five starts, La Dorada included victories in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (Restricted Listed, 1200m), $225,000 J Swap Contractors Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m), and $550,000 Courtesy Ford Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m), while also finishing second in the Eclipse Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m). 

Winning over $1 million prize money in her first season racing – the first ever to do so in New Zealand – La Dorada is in training at Cranbourne, and on a path towards the $1m Thousand Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) on Saturday 18 October at Caulfield. 

Accepting on behalf of the owners, syndicate manager Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM said: “She’s a filly with the heart of Texas. She’s tenacious and the only filly to have won the Karaka Million 2YO, Matamata Breeders’ Stakes, and Sires’ Produce Stake, so we’re extremely proud of her.

“The owners love her dearly. David (Ellis) bought her as a yearling at Karaka, and she sold really quickly because many of the owners had been involved in her mother (Gold Fever), who we also bought and trained.

“There were some real family ties going on, because everyone knew how good the mother was and they wanted to be involved with the daughter. And they’re both incredible products of Waikato Stud.

“There are some lofty goals for La Dorada in Australia. She’s been out there with 50-kilos on her back in the Moir Stakes (Gr. 1, 1000), so took no harm from that, and watch out next time.

“I’d like to thank the training team, the jockeys that rode her, and all the staff on the farm at home, that had a hand in making her into Champion Two-Year-Old.”

Also, extremely worthy of his nomination, and unbeaten in all four starts, Return To Conquer won the $110,000 Counties Challenge Stakes (Listed, 1100m), $120,000 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (Gr. 3, 1200m), $150,000 Fairview Matamata Slipper (Gr. 3, 1200m), and $550,000 Sistema Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m). 

Owned by Te Akau 2024 Stallion Breeding Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), Return To Conquer (2 c Snitzel – Vaujany, by Lonhro) was purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $1.3m at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, from the draft of Blue Gum Farm.

A son of four-time Champion Sire Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and a Group One winner with $534,750 in prizemoney Return To Conquer is an assured stallion career. 

++++++

In the past eight years, Te Akau has won 24 horse awards and 22 titles for people at the Horse of the Year ceremonies, and 82 awards in total.