Te Akau Thursday Update

David writes:

There has been so much happening in the past week or so that this update might turn into a very long catch up - but gee when you have so much good news to share, it makes it very easy!

In the past week our two stables have been undeniably on fire. The success that Te Akau is experiencing in both New Zealand and Singapore doesn't happen by accident or good luck (although in racing sometimes you need a good dose of the latter)!

It was a massive result to see Gingernuts win the Group 2 Avondale Guineas in sensational fashion and then go on to show it was no fluke by trouncing his opposition in the $1 million Group 1 NZ Derby at Ellerslie. However to see what he did to his opposition on Saturday in Sydney when winning the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas just left me beaming with pride.

This is a very hard race to win and the roll of honour tells you that it has been won by real stars of the turf. The day before the race I ended up having surgery on a problematic wisdom tooth and was not able to fly across to the races. Luckily Karyn was able to rearrange her schedule and she went over to join Jamie and some of the “G-nuts” supporters at Rosehill.

Talking to Karyn the day before, the constant Sydney rain was proving a concern and there was even some talk of the races being called off. However they went ahead and thank goodness!

Jamie is over looking after Gingernuts (or “Jerry” as we know him) and had him spot on for Saturday. We knew he could handle an off track having won the Group 2 Avondale Guineas on slow going but the heavy track in Sydney was an unknown. As it turned out he relished the conditions and with a superb ride by Opier Bosson - he cruised home beating a very good field of Australians by over two lengths, ears pricked.

I can't even begin to tell you what a thrill it was for everyone involved. This is a horse I purchased from the Ready to Run sale in 2015 for $42,500. I only purchased one other horse - Hall of Fame - who is also a Group 1 winner this season, having claimed the Levin Classic at Trentham in January. Hall of Fame, a Savabeel colt, cost $230,000 and sold in about 12 hours.

Interestingly enough Hall of Fame won his first race as 2YO beating Gingernuts into second.

I clearly remember that we paraded both of these horses at our Owners' Event at Matamata that November. Hall of Fame was already sold but many of his new owners were there so we paraded him. Gingernuts had shares available and one was sold that day.

A 10% share in Gingernuts was $4,250 and now he has won over $1 million - so that 10% share has now earned $100,000 - well done to his owners, including a team of Blair Alexander's friends together with long standing Te Akau clients. To see the joy of these new owners really does make me smile.

We will now pay the late entry to the A$2 million Group 1 Australian Derby which is staged in two weeks at Randwick.

Success comes about through a proven recipe of vital ingredients - a bit like that chocolate cake that no-one made quite like your grandmother - her secret recipe! The difference is that I am not sure that our recipe is that secret.

It starts at the very beginning - by buying (or being entrusted to train) promising horses who tick every box. I firmly believe that breeders put their best horses in the sales so that is why I go to those sales to buy them. We have a very refined and diligent inspection and selection process that we stick to.

Once the horses join Te Akau it is all about the team - the wonderful people that make up Te Akau racing under Stephen and Jamie in New Zealand, Mark in Singapore and Jason on the farm are our key ingredient and they truly make the difference.

It is one thing having untapped potential or promise in a young horse, it is another to develop that, recognising that every horse we train is an individual - with their own quirks, their own likes and dislikes and their own personality. Having a happy horse delivers results. Horses are really like humans - the more they feel nourished and encouraged, praised and nurtured - the better the chance are that their ability will be uncovered and they will shine.

The skill and expertise of our Te Akau people is second to none - and this is reaffirmed by the results that our stables are having. This includes for example our veterinary team, our feed suppliers, our farrier and the folks who transport our horses who all work closely with our stables to ensure the best care possible.

So we have the horse and the human - and part of that human equation are our owners. The success of Te Akau is also absolutely reliant on the loyalty and passion of our owners - and we have the best family of owners imaginable. Our owners know us, trust us and believe in us - they know that we want nothing more than to win races for them.

These past two months we have welcomed over 8o news owners to the team who have invested in our Magic Millions and Karaka yearlings - alongside our existing owners. That us always very exciting for Karyn and me - to make new friends and meet our new owners when they come to the farm to see their horses. It is also always great catching up with the people we know well who get involved with us season in, season out.

I also believe that bringing our new yearlings to the farm to spell after the sales is really important - the sales are a demanding time for young horses and the yearlings we buy have usually been very popular at the sales so they have been inspected many times, walked up and on display every day.

We have almost 4000 acres at Te Akau Stud and our “babies” come home to large, lush paddocks that have been especially prepared for them leading in to the sales. it gives them a chance to wind down and just chill out and relax before the next important stage of their lives - when we break them in. This is such a vital stage of any horse's development and it's great to have a well rested and refreshed young horse who is ready to be educated.

I have never in my 35 years at Te Akau Stud seen the farm looking better. I know on one hand the very wet summer (was there a summer?) has played havoc with racing, with abandonments and postponements of race meetings but gosh the farm has really benefitted and is as green as I have ever seen with an abundance of grass.

In the last week we have again been fertilising and getting ready for the winter m months ahead.

Yesterday we won yet another race in New Zealand - and we still have quite an arsenal to race this season including a smart team for the Queensland Winter Carnival - including Group 1 winners Heroic Valour and Hall of Fame, and Shocking Luck who was runner up in the Group 2 Waikato Guineas heads there as does Zambezi Warrior.

Last weekend Mark Walker won races on Friday and Sunday, continuing his stronghold on the Singapore Trainers' Premiership.  On Saturday we saw Gingernuts win as you know in Sydney while Astrid, a Pins' made I bought for $80,000 from the Karaka Premier Sale, raced bravely against higher rated horses at Te Rapa, also winning. Steve and Jamie currently lie in second place on the Trainers' Premiership here and our stable has won more prise money in New Zealand than any other stable.

Yes it is a great season and we are so thrilled for our owners!