Te Akau Thursday Update

David writes:

The news overnight from Te Akau is that our stable jockey Opie Bosson has agreed to ride Embellish, a very valuable Savabeel colt that I purchased for $775,000, in the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas at Riccarton on 11 November - a race that Te Akau has won five times previously in the past 13 years - and one for which we have the first and second and joint fourth favourites this year.

With the A$2million Emirates' Stakes also to be staged that day in Melbourne, that means that Gingernuts (main picture) will of course have as change of jockey.  However this certainly is no disadvantage to Gingernuts as the first time Opie ever rode him was in the New Zealand Derby and the second time he ever rode him was in the Rosehill Guineas - both valuable Group One races.  If Winx doesn't start, Hugh Bowman will take the mount and if she does, the ride is likely to go to Blake Shinn - both top line Australian riders.

However - back to Riccarton and the start of NZ Cup Week - we are lucky that we have Michael McNab in the Te Akau team. Michael rides work every  morning for us and gets on so well with Te Akau Shark and therefore he will ride Te Akau Shark in the 2000 Guineas.   Our third runner is Age of Fire who will be ridden by Matt Cameron.

Let me promise you one thing, Age of Fire has just a good a chance in the Guineas as Te Akau Shark and Embellish.  We are lucky that if the track is rock hard it will suit Age of Fire, if the track is  a 4 or 5 it will suit Embellish and if it is a soft track it will be marvellous for Te Akau Shark. Interestingly one of my owners has a share in all three of those horses.  What a wonderful achievement that is for one couple to have a share in three runners in the 2000 Guineas - and several of my owners have shares in both Embellish and Age of Fire.

Last season of course Michael McNab won the Group One Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes for us when he rode Melody Belle and he is just about to hit really good form this season with his riding. You will know too that the season before last, Matt Cameron won both the 1000 Guineas and the 2000 Guineas for us.  So they are no strangers to the tangerine.

Our sole runner in the Group 1 1000 Guineas will be Swing Note, an Encosta de Lago filly I bought for A$60,000 and she will be ridden by Opie Bosson.  She ran an impressive third in the Listed Zacinto Stakes last Saturday, earning valuable black type for her future broodmare career.

The news from down South from Dan Miller is that he could not be more happy with all of our horses.  Smart 2YO Fastnet Rock filly Avantage, who is unbeaten in her two starts thus far, is just absolutely thriving and it will be a big thrill for me to see Opie ride her in the Listed Welcome Stakes - a race Te Akau has won five times before.  Opie will be able to give us a really good idea of just how good a filly she is.  Her winning jockey last weekend Sam Weatherly phoned me on Sunday night and said that she was easily the fastest horse that he had ever ridden.  Breaking 32 seconds for 600 metres is really quite an incredible achievement.

Track work again at Matamata this morning was very busy.  Opie rode 10 or 11 horses for us and he is really starting to hit his straps. We had a lot of very encouraging jump outs and I am really starting to get excited about the horses that will be stepping out in the next two or three months.

The news from the farm is we started shearing a few days late because of the wet weather and today we are doing the ewe hoggets. Yesterday we had our first pick of fat lambs and the price is at a record level, certainly the most that I have ever received for lambs and even cull ewes are selling extremely well.

The grass is slowly starting to grow now and for the first time this morning I noticed that we are starting to get a small surplus.

Everybody knows that I sell all my cattle meat to Greenlea.  I regard Greenlea as one of the very best companies that I deal with in the Waikato and its Chief Executive Tony Egan came out with my fat-stock buyer Alan Radford,  We had a nice lunch together and discussed the future of beef and farming  at Te Akau Stud.  I never stop enjoying learning from a guy like Tony Egan who has vast experience in the meat industry.

My sole focus for the next three weeks is the Ready to Run Sale at Karaka. From what I have seen there are some particularly good types of racehorses at this sale and I am going to be quite active buying some nice horses to sell for our stable.  So if you would like to be involved now is the time to call and let us know so that you can be on our priority list.  I am certainly hunting down another Te Akau Shark, Hall of Fame or Gingernuts - speaking of whom ...

Gingernuts (above) has arrived safe and sound in Melbourne with our senior foreman Kerry Jones - he travelled well and didn't leave an oat at dinner time last night - all great news!

Have a great week and go the tangerine.