Te Akau Sunday Update

David writes:

As the 2017/18 season comes to an end this coming week, we have spent time reflecting on what the past 12 months has delivered - and we could not be more proud of the whole Te Akau team - both in New Zealand and in Singapore.

I did some interesting maths yesterday, thinking about the past 12 months to 31 July across our two stables ... and I think you will find these statistics very interesting:

From 1 August 2017 - 31 July 2018, Te Akau has won 139 races, with 135 second and 113 third placings.  Our stables have won 20 Group/Listed races - with six at Group 1 level.  Importantly - Te Akau has won combined prize money for our owners of $8,715,812 -  that really puts our season into perspective.

We are also very proud of recording THREE Group 1 quinellas this season - in the NZ 2000 Guineas with Embellish and Age of Fire, the Sistema Stakes with Sword of Osman and Avantage and in Singapore with Elite Invincible and Kingsman - not forgetting our quinella in the Karaka Million with Avantage and Al Hasa.

In fact, in the past two seasons Te Akau has won stakes' races in the North and South Islands of New Zealand, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Singapore, Ireland and England (the latter two with Torcedor, the European horse I purchased and manage).

Speaking of Torcedor, he came through his run for a gallant third in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in fine order.  He will now race on the first day of "Glorious Goodwood" this Tuesday 31 July in the Group 1 Quipco Goodwood Cup Stakes - a two mile race with a purse of 500,000 UK pounds.  He will again be ridden by Colm O'Donoghue and faces some familiar foes in Order of St George (fourth in the Gold Cup) as well as Stradivarius who won the Gold Cup and who is also the defending titleholder in this event.  The race will run at 3.35pm UK time so about 2.35 am NZ time on Wednesday 1 August.

We have had so much interest expressed to us about our European horse (who adds to the tangerine black type total, taking it to 22 in the past season) that you should watch this space - we may just have a unique opportunity for you in coming months ...

The thing about Te Akau opportunities is that we are highly committed to race track success but also we are also focused on being the 'cutting-edge' stable in terms of innovation - part of what we really enjoy, is thinking how we can offer unique propositions to our owners - ones that no other New Zealand (and in most cases Australian either) stable offers.

For example, in recent months we purchased a proven 3YO gelding called Augustus in Australia.  He had his first start in the Group 1 Queensland Derby for his new ownership.  He gave everyone a big thrill when finishing fourth in that race and is soon heading to our Singapore stable, with the Group 1 Singapore Derby in mind.

Another recent purchase for Singapore was a horse called Atlantic Fox and he has arrived out of quarantine there and Mark is delighted with him.  Then a few weeks ago, we did something different for Te Akau and purchased a 6YO gelding from Australia called Richard of Yorke, a proven stayer, and he is now in New Zealand, targeting our major staying races.

Shares in all of these unique opportunities were offered to our owners and snapped up in such a short time you simply wouldn't believe.

Just five days ago, Karyn and I, after much research and input from Mark Walker, secured another Australian-based horse for our Singapore stable. Called Mascot, he is a 3YO Redoute's Choice gelding who was an A$850,000 yearling at the Sydney Easter Sale.  He was bought as a stallion prospect but had to be gelded, hence we were able to secure him for A$110,000.  It was remarkable, Karyn had the shares in him sold out in under 50 minutes.

Good luck to the owners who invested in Mascot and all of our recent acquisitions. Thank you for your support.  In each case, we have had a large number of people who have missed out, and we have had waiting lists.  You do need to be quick when these opportunities arise but don't be too disappointed, we do have another in the pipeline!

Another example of the Te Akau difference was at Karaka this year when we put together a high-class Filly Syndicate for the first time - again the uptake was huge and the shares in the three smart fillies were snapped up.  Keep an eye on them - they are now called Exaltation (the Not A Single Doubt half-sister to Champion 2YO Melody Belle), Festivity (I Am Invincible/Mabsam) and Full of Joy (Savabeel/Joy's Choice).

Of course every year we have a Colt Syndicate and this is hugely popular, being oversubscribed each time.  The three colts from this year have now been named Lethal (Savabeel/Katie Lee), Equinox (Exceed and Excel/Our Ella Belle) and Laureate (Snitzel/Floria).  Examples of the success of our colt syndicate initiatives include sires Darci Brahma, Rock 'n' Pop, Burgundy, Xtravagant and Heroic Valour, with Group 1 winners Embellish and Age of Fire waiting in the stallion wings, with their stud futures to be at the iconic Cambridge Stud, now owned by Jo and Brendan Lindsay.

When you think about these stallions - they really have some terrific 'runs on the breeding board' - Darci (below) for example has been a six-time Champion Sire of Singapore and he will finish his domestic New Zealand season in second place on two of the three stallion premierships, second only to Savabeel.

I was over the moon to see his son, and Hong Kong's equal top rated horse, DB Pin crowned Horse of the Year at the annual Group One dinner held by the Waikato Branch of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders on Friday night.  This Darci Brahma gelding was bred by good friends and clients Willie and Karen Calder and attained the mantel of Hong Kong's equal top-rated horse after his victory in the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup. DB Pin has won six of his 14 career starts and has won more than HK$16.6 million in stakes.

Karen and Willie were also co-breeders of our 2YO Queen Avantage, together with Coolmore Stud and this year they bought a stunning Fastnet Rock filly out of Pin 'N' Needles at Karaka (so a close relation to DB Pin) and have given her to Te Akau to train - we feel very proud to have a filly of this quality in the stable.

It is also a real thrill to see Burgundy (below) continuing on his successful sire path - I still say he is one of the fastest horses that Te Akau trained and as I expected, he is really making it as a stallion.  He currently is the Leading Second Season Sire in New Zealand and at the NZTR Awards in August, his 3YO daughter Dijon Bleu will officially be recognised as NZB Filly of the Year for the past season.

Burgundy's impressive filly Bringer of War added to his season tally with her inspired win in Singapore on Friday night.  Trained by Mark Walker, and bred and raised at Te Akau Stud, her Class 4 win was even more admirable than it may seem when you consider she has returned from knee surgery.  Already stakes' placed in Singapore, she is an exciting individual with a big heart.

In some ways it has been a "quiet July" and in other ways, it has still been a very busy, full on month for everyone at Te Akau.  Singapore racing continues through until its season end in December and with hardly a weekend going past without a win by Mark and Gus and Karen and the team, it makes our winter months fun and enjoyable to see their success.

For our New Zealand stable, July is usually a more 'quiet' month racing wise - we traditionally don't have many, if any, horses racing at all in New Zealand, with the deteriorating and heavy winter tracks.  Have no fear though, the stable team is still flat out - and we are all fired up for the new season ahead.

Our Matamata team has almost completely finished giving all of our young horses their first, and in some cases their second, preparation, or taste of stable life.  When we finish breaking in all of our youngsters, they head in to our main stable for further education.  This is the time when they learn all about the regime of stable life, going to the track, swimming in the pool, barrier skills etc.  It is such an important time for them to set the framework for their future racing careers.

We truly have probably the most exciting team of soon-to-be two year olds that I can remember.  We just can't wait to see what the future holds for them.  We love also seeing the pleasure that our existing owners and all of our new Te Akau owners receive from their involvement in these youngsters.  We are really lucky to have such a wonderful family of owners - thank you to everyone who invested with us this year.

Our Spring horses of course are well settled back in to stable life as they gear up towards their new season programmes.  One of the most important early dates of the new season is the trial meeting at Te Teko.  We will have about 45 horses ready to step out for the first time in 2018/19 at this key fixture on Tuesday 7 August.  Karyn and I will be there and we really look forward to seeing as many owners as possible who can make it.  It's always a full on and demanding day for our team but a day we all love.

For our young horses, and there will be some two year olds who will trial that day at Te Teko (there is also another trial meeting there later that month), it is more about continued education than anything.  For our more experienced horses, Te Teko and the subsequent trials over August and September are more about getting fitness levels back to race day requirements.

Meanwhile, at Te Akau Stud has also been working tirelessly through the winter - Enzo, Toni, Luke, Geoff, Chloe, Dylan and everyone are such great people to have in the farm team and they keep everything ticking over like clock-work!  Robyn and Emma in our stud office and Lena at the stable likewise - all do a marvellous job for us.  It has also been very special to have our former farm manager Sam Boyd staying at Te Akau Stud - keeping a close eye on Karyn's dogs of course!!

The great thing for me is that when your business is truly your passion, even when you go away on holiday, the horses and the farm are always top of mind.

Each day I receive a report on the farm with photos and updates on everything e.g. how all the new lambs are progressing, and we have plenty of those, lots of twins this year!  We scanned 158% so that tells you how many twins we are expecting!  We are now over half way through our lambing.

It has been a marvellous holiday and Karyn and I have really enjoyed the time together - with our family - we are home in a week and are both so looking forward to the new season - see you at Te Teko!!