Te Akau Team Member of the Month

Te Akau is proud to announce our December "Team Member of the Month" - Enzo Di Leoni Ferrari, Equine Manager based at Te Akau Stud ...

Te Akau Principal David Ellis believes Enzo is a world class horseman and the best Equine Manager that Te Akau Stud has employed.

“Nobody has done a better job with these young horses here at Te Akau Stud than Enzo. He is unbelievably clever in what he can get horses to do. He knows them inside out, he knows how to get into their minds and encourage and nurture them through understanding each as the individual they are.

"Enzo is also a highly experience horseman who can spot an physical issues a horse may have - he's gifted. He is such a good example to everyone here at Te Akau Stud - he ensures we have a happy team. Enzo is one of these guys that can turn his hand to anything on the farm, and we are very lucky to have him,” said David.

Te Akau New Zealand trainer Jamie Richards adds:

“Enzo has become a very important part of assisting David and tending to everything on the farm. He would be one of the best breakers Te Akau has ever had, but he's also a gun at running the whole farm on the horse side - from broodmares to handling the foals, spelling the horses and checking their condition as well as treatments.

“I don't believe in David's time at Te Akau Stud he has ever had anyone who has been so competent in every aspect of the farm as Enzo is. He is extremely grateful for everything that Enzo does, and he can't speak highly enough of him. For our team in Matamata, the communication is really good from Enzo when the horses come back for a spell, we are always well informed. Communication is very important in terms of having an overall picture of the farm and how the horses have spelled.”

"Obviously I cannot be at the farm every day so having David and Enzo being the "policemen's eyes" with the horses is crucial."

Enzo hails from Uruguay, and with parents and siblings at the top of their respected surgical fields in his home country (surgeon, anaesthetist, heart surgeon, general practitioner and a chemist) you may have thought he would follow in their footsteps with a medical career.

However, a change in life circumstances saw Enzo move out to a farm when he was just five. He was told he wasn't ‘cutting it' at as a farm hand, and that he needed to find something to do or he would be sent back to his parents in the city. So Enzo began breaking in horses aged 13 and by 19, he was the Champion bareback rodeo rider in Uruguay. At 22 Enzo was drawn from a ballot and had the opportunity to come to New Zealand on a working holiday visa - he is now a permanent resident.

      

Enzo Di Leoni Ferrari:

My job involves being responsible for the well-being of horses here at Te Akau Stud. We have agistment all year round and a small band of really nice mares that David and outside clients breed from. We do all the early education of all those foals and six months of the year we break in on average around 70 yearlings which are the Karaka and Australian sales' purchases, as well as our homebreds and for private owners. We basically get the racehorses here in their optimum condition both physically and mentally before sending them back to Jamie in Matamata where he can put his winning ‘Midas Touch' into action.

My team deserves this award every week - we currently have a team of two other senior people Deane Lowcay and Stephanie Hyde-Richards, and they work so hard. We are very spoilt with our farrier Gareth Allis doing a superb job of looking our horses' feet and Dr Douglas Black and the team at Waikato Equine tending to their health. And we can't forget Luke Copeland, who manages our farm and livestock. We strive to achieve excellence in every aspect of our operation here at the stud - breaking, agistment and breeding. And we all try to do it a bit better than everyone else, every year. I can't stress enough how proud of my team I am. Deane and Steph improve everything and everyone they are involved with. They are integral to the Stud and I couldn't do this without them.

I applied for a job at Te Akau because of the lifestyle. I was offered a position here in October 2017 and I plan on staying for a lot longer. Te Akau Stud had the perfect mixture of that work/life balance, as being a breaker is a young man's game! At Te Akau, I can focus on my managerial role and help teach some promising staff as the next generation of breakers. I am able to spend time with my beautiful daughter Jade on the weekends and school holidays. I can enjoy the surroundings of where I live which includes hunting in the winter and fishing in the summer (although I am not really good at it so I have to practice basically every weekend and sometimes during the week too).

One of my career highlights at Te Akau would have to be meeting ‘the beautiful lady from the TV.' I've been following Karyn Fenton-Ellis on Trackside since I arrived in New Zealand (especially as I was trying to learn English) and I am still star-struck by her every day (David, you are punching above your weight!). It's a pleasure to work for someone so generous and so kind to everyone and every animal. I also always wanted to break in a Karaka Million runner, and I got that wish, as well as the winner, with Probabeel this year. And last, but certainly not least, my career highlight would have to be meeting my partner, Emma.    

I can't thank David and Karyn enough for the opportunities that they have provided me with. I really am struggling with words on how to describe just how appreciative I am - from their employment, their fairness, generosity, their kindness and even their friendship - I am so thankful. Karyn and David are incredible employers and I am very lucky to be here. There are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes here at the stud that people don't often get to see that makes this place great. We have the best team we have ever had, both on the farm and in Matamata, and let's not forget our office staff - they are world class professionals. We are very spoilt for choice here at Te Akau and I am proud to be working here. 

David (Ellis) and Karyn (Fenton-Ellis) introduced the "Team Member of the Month" Award as a way of saying thanks to all the team, from themselves and also on behalf of the owners, in appreciation that the horses are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential.

“I keep saying that because these people love horses they're prepared to get up at so early in winter and summer, rain, hail, and shine,” Ellis said.

“We create opportunities for young people to get involved in a thoroughbred business that we try to run as professionally as we can, and also employ people that have spent their careers working in the industry and bring enormous amounts of experience.”

The "Team Member of the Month" receives a $500 cash prize and the overall annual winner receives an all expenses paid trip for two to the Gold Coast.

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