Te Akau Thursday Update

David writes:

This morning the day started as usual at Te Akau Racing at 3.45am at our Matamata stable when all the waste feeds are done and the horses get fed their breakfast.  We then started getting the horses ready for their trackwork at 4.00am and by 4.25am the first team was on the track.

We are taking 11 horses to Taupo this morning to gallop - Xtravagant, Scrutinize, Star of Greenbeel, Echezeaux, It's Our Showtime, Wolfwhistle, Beacon of Hope, Rocksun, Amperage, Safekeeping and a 3YO gelding Saperavi/Aventura.  The riders who will be travelling to Taupo are Kerry Jones, Matt Cameron, Kate Hercock and Daniel Miller.  These horses have all been showing plenty in trackwork in the last few weeks and are getting ready to race - or trial - in the near future.

It's an incredibly exciting time of the year with the horses and also at the farm.  I have bought a lot of store cattle this week both yearling steers and bulls, some privately and some out of Frankton and some from Stortford Lodge.

Since the cancellation of Hawke's Bay last Saturday I have been putting a lot of thought into the way forward for New Zealand racing.  I can see that for our industry to have a future, we need to undertake some further amalgamation - having 71 clubs using 51 courses-proper is something that is not sustainable.

However - and I stress this most importantly - BEFORE we get rid of any courses-proper, we need an all-weather track.  When you have 50 inches of rain every year, the cost of having a good grass track for trials and racing is extremely expensive.  A blind man can see that, at least in the North where we get most of the rain, we urgently need an all-weather track that we can trial and race every week on during the months of June through to September.  In most cases, this would alleviate the races being cancelled.

I noticed a race meeting in Melbourne recently that was being staged on a grass track and there were some problems with that track so the meeting was re-scheduled for Pakenham on its all-weather track.

In the early 2000's, the then Minister for Racing Hon. Annette King put forward the Racing Amendment Bill - this clarified how the profit from overseas betting was administered.  It meant that - for example - if there was $100 million in profit and the galloping code was responsible for 55% of the betting in New Zealand, then the galloping code received 55% of the profit on that overseas racing.  If the harness code did,  say 35% then they got 35% and if the greyhounds did 10% they got 10%, sort of thing.

This is really disadvantaging the galloping code now, especially when you think that one of the largest increases in betting is on overseas racing - and when we have to cancel domestic meeting after meeting, it is really damaging the galloping code.

In the last 10-11 months there have been abandonments at Wingatui (2), Ashburton (2), Te Rapa, Hawke's Bay, Otaki, New Plymouth - and probably others I can't recall right now.  I think this Racing Amendment Bill needs to be re-examined as the harness code has a huge advantage in being able to schedule weekly trials and race meetings that WILL be held on their all-weather tracks.  So when harness trainers map out a preparation for their horses, they do it with much more confidence and certainty, especially at this time of the year.  Our code needs to step up!

The cost of an all-weather track would be in the vicinity of $10 million.  If the government can put $35 million into the last Rugby World Cup, a similar amount into yachting campaigns, contributing to the Michael Hill Golf tournament, why can't it contribute to an all-weather track?  Imagine the upside for an industry that employs thousands of people and pays its fair share of tax into government coffers.

So I say to the racing administrators, who are now paid very good money to administer the code, now is the time to look forward, create a business plan for an all-weather traack, present it to the government, show the government the benefits as well as the savings that can be made by having an all-weather track and show how they intend to progress racing through the next decade as a result.

On a positive note - well done to Paul Kenny and Cameron George and the Auckland Racing Club - congratulations on your announcement of a huge increase in stakes at Ellerslie.  To be able to go to five of Ellerslie's racemeetings and race for a minimum of $50,000 is a great move by the ARC and I am sure everyone in the industry will benefit.

Yesterday I had to go to the Waikato Racing Club in my role as a Life Member is act as one of the scrutineers to count the votes for its election for its Board.  Tonight we have the AGM which Karyn will be chairing in her role as Chairman of the Club.  Well done to Karyn and the team for their return to profitability this year.

Then tomorrow I have Sir Patrick Hogan of Cambridge Stud coming out to look at the Burgundy yearlings that we have here.  I am unbelievably impressed with the Burgundy foals and yearlings that we have and I am predicting that he will be a really successful sire in years to come.  If you have a broodmare you should seriously think about spending just $6000 to send your mare to Burgundy.

I also thought you would like to see a picture of our parade ring at Matamata (below) - isn't it a beautiful time of the year when the cherry blossoms are out?  It just looks quite spectacular.  September is always a very frustrating month of the year for everyone in the galloping code, especially our staff who are working their butts off to have everything and all of the horses 100% plus - in nasty weather - it is to their credit both at the stable and at the farm that the horses are coming up in such good style.  Within 10 days I think the weather will have started to turn and we will see consistently better tracks.

We don't have a large team racing in New Zealand this weekend but we do have 12 runners lining up in Singapore on Friday night.  I am going to Hawke's Bay the following weekend for its final big day and Te Akau will have runners there, including in the Group 2 Hawkes' Bay Guineas and re-scheduled Group 3 Hawke's Bay Breeders' Gold Trail Stakes.

We have a great team in the stable ready to go!  Have a terrific weekend!