Te Akau Team Member of the Month

Te Akau Team Member of the Month for April is Ailish Greene, Equine Assistant at Te Akau Stud ...

The ‘Luck of the Irish' can be easily applied to Ailish, who is very far from her hometown in County Westmeath, Ireland.

After finding herself grounded in Vietnam with no employment
earlier this year due to the outbreak of Covid-19, Ailish is now calling Te
Akau Stud home.

“Ailish is a very special young woman - she is always happy and she is a very gifted rider,” said Te Akau Principal David Ellis. 

“She has an exceptional way with our young horses and is an excellent team member. She is a very capable young woman whose passion for our horses is clearly obvious and her attention to detail is world class. We are incredibly lucky to have someone like Ailish working for Te Akau Racing.” 

Te Akau Stud Equine Manager, Enzo Di Leoni, reiterated that Ailish is a highly valued member of the team.

“Ailish is known to us as the ‘Elusive Irish' as she truly is a one in a million type of person. It is not very often you see young people so dedicated to the industry and passionate about our horses in the way she is.”

“She is an excellent horsewoman with an unstoppable will to learn and the desire to improve herself every day. I rate her highly as rider and she will only keep going from strength to strength.”

“We are we lucky that her path crossed with us here at Te Akau Stud, and we hope that she has enjoyed being here as much as we enjoy having her in the team.”  

Ailish Greene:

I was introduced to the equine industry about four years ago, when I began riding out for a local trainer called Dot Love. I am from a little village in Ireland called Multyfarnham, which is about 15km away from the yard (stable) that I was working at, so I used to cycle to and from work.

I was hooked - I worked there on weekends and pretty much any day that I could when I was not in college. Dot mostly trains National Hunt horses and I absolutely loved it there. I learnt so much during my time at the yard, which helped me get to where I am today.

Wanting to experience something different, I moved to Vietnam in January this year to teach English. In February, the plan changed relatively fast as schools began to close due to the corona virus outbreak.

I needed to make a decision fairly quickly and, with my sister living in Wellington, my parents suggested travelling to New Zealand or Australia, as riding horses down here was always something I had always wanted to do.

Taking a look at what was available, there were a lot of places looking for riders, but my good friend Barry told me that Te Akau Racing would be the best option. He was not lying, as here I am now.  

My role at Te Akau Stud includes general care of our horses that we have spelling, as well as working the breakers before they head off to the track for their first stable preparation. It is tough but extremely rewarding, and I am learning a lot about young horses from Enzo.

My favourite thing about Te Akau is the quality of horses I am able to ride and the fact that our whole team gets on really well. Everyone here is really valued by Karyn and David, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that I have been given.

Looking to the future, I have been given the option to work at our Matamata Stables once we are finished with the breakers which I am looking forward to.

I'd like to continue working in the racing industry in New Zealand and Australia for the next few years before going home to complete a Masters' degree in either teaching or environmentalism - I haven't made my mind up just yet.

But for the moment, I am just really enjoying my time with Te Akau Stud and Racing and am looking forward to the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead with this great team and fantastic employers.

David (Ellis) and Karyn (Fenton-Ellis) introduced the monthly award as a way of saying thanks to all the team, from themselves and also on behalf of the owners, in appreciation of horses being given the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

“I keep saying that because these people love horses, they're prepared to get up at 3.30 a.m. 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 cash prize and overall winner an all expenses paid trip for two to the Gold Coast.

Main photo: Ailish Greene aboard the Xtravagant/Herstory 18 filly - credit Emma Hyde-Richards

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