Te Akau Thursday Update

David writes:

On Tuesday night I returned home after having a most enjoyable five days in Sydney. I was there for the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, which as always was a terrific sale with an outstanding line-up of horses.

I was very pleased to secure Lot 428 - an I Am Invincible filly out of Meuse. What I liked most about this filly is just how athletic she is, and she moved as fluently as you could ever wish to see a filly move. She has a lovely presence about her and is beautifully balanced, a superb example of a thoroughbred, the type of filly that really catches your eye.

I also absolutely loved her pedigree. She is out of a Snitzel mare, who is out of an Encosta de Lago mare, who in turn is out of a Danehill mare. You honestly can’t get better than that - it is a pedigree stacked with some of the very best influences in the Australasian thoroughbred - and one that will give her potential terrific residual value.

My good friend Joe Walls, who recently as Chairman of New Zealand Bloodstock, went through all the fillies on our shortlist with me and said, “DC, don’t miss this one”. He felt she had one of the very best pedigrees in the sale and was a lovely filly, so we were absolutely thrilled to be able to secure her.

We were blown away when we managed to purchase her for A$360,000 - which is, funnily enough, the exactly the same price that we paid for Imperatriz.

There are only a couple of shares left in this classy filly, so if you would like to be involved please let me know. You can call me anytime on +64 21 925 151 or email Karyn for further details at [email protected].

That's her above - and you can read all about her here, and secure your share too:

https://www.teakauracing.com/yearling/lot-428-i-am-invincible-meuse-bay-filly

Saturday was one of the biggest thrills that I have ever had in racing. For the team to win a Group 1 race at Trentham and then another Group 1 at Rosehill in Sydney on the same day - well, life just doesn’t get much better than that.  Being able to win these elite races for our owners is what we all live and breathe for, we are thrilled for them.

That brought up our 105th Group 1 win for Te Akau for horses that we have either bought, trained or bred. We are very proud of that achievement, but equally very grateful - to our entire team, and to all of our owners who support us and make these results possible.

We have some very close friends involved in Seize the Day, and to see him win so easily by four lengths - eased down near the line by Opie — really suggests that he has a very exciting future ahead of him. He will now head out for a well-earned spell for a couple of months.

Belle Cheval is already settled in at our Cranbourne stable and has come through her race very well. She will now have a six-week spell at Mornington before being prepared for the major races in Melbourne this Spring. Her breeders and owners David Archer and Dianne Wright are two of the best people you could ever train for, and it gives us a great deal of pleasure to see them enjoy success with such a lovely filly. Their gratitude and kindness to the stable and our team is always so genuine and very much appreciated.

It's not the first time that we have celebrated two Group 1 races in one day - Probabeel (Sydney) and Melody Belle (Hastings) achieved this in 2020 while Te Akau Shark and Probabeel both won Group 1 races at Randwick in February 2020, just 40 minutes apart.

I think it is also a reminder that we are a stable who also will train for private owners and breeders, as well as the horses we syndicate.  We had another nice win yesterday with Fortune Cookie, a filly that was entrusted to us by new owners, which was a thrill for the team.  They have given us a number of horses to train and two have already been winners. 

Most of our sale yearlings are now being broken in, and the feedback I am receiving from the breakers has been excellent. I really believe we have bought as nice a group of yearlings as we ever have, and there are still some shares available in exciting young horses. It is quite remarkable how often the last shares end up being amongst the best - I think of Avantage who cost $210,000. She won nine Group 1 races and sold for a global online record of $4.1 million when she retired. 

Then of course Imperatriz was on the website for some months - she won 10 Group 1 races, was NZ Horse of the Year, Champion Australian Sprinter of the Year and the world's highest rated sprinter.  She won $7.5 million before being sold forA $6.6 million - a Southern Hemisphere record. Both were among the last to sell.

While I have been away, the grass on the farm has really taken off. We had 49mls of rain at Te Akau Stud in March, and we will be applying fertiliser next week. If we get the rain that has been forecast over the coming week, the farm will really come away strongly and look fantastic.

All of the foals at the farm have now been weaned. Prior to that, we bring them into the barn and give them around two weeks of handling so they are comfortable with people and ready for the next stage of their education. Our team at Te Akau Stud does an incredible job with these young horses - teaching them to lead, trimming their feet, and generally preparing them for life ahead.

We have a very nice crop of yearlings this year by Noverre, Sword of State, Embellish and Almanzor. I spoke with several high-profile trainers in Sydney and Melbourne while I was away, and they all told me they have one or two Noverres in their stable that they think are very promising - not just good, but very good. That is very encouraging and exciting for Noverre.

We have 250 lambs left to go to Wilson Hellaby, which will go next Wednesday. We sent the last load of steers to Greenlea this week that we will be sending for quite some time. The steers averaged $3,255.97 for 1,540, and we will be selling more in July and then again in September/October.

Last night in Auckland Karyn and I had dinner with two of my oldest friends and their wives — Peter and Jenny Drummond, and Dave and Michelle Shorter - it was a beautiful evening in a wonderful setting, with great company. I met Peter and David when I started primary school, so we have been friends for close on 65 years.

Reflecting on school days, another very special moment this week was receiving a letter from King’s School in Auckland. The headmaster wrote to me to say that I am to be honoured with the King’s School 'Old Boy of the Year' award for 2026. I must admit I was really very emotional reading it, I feel very humbled and deeply honoured. I still remember starting there as a five-year-old, taken by my father. I might not have been the best academically, but I did enjoy my sport - swimming, rugby and cricket! 

I also want to mention a new publication that racing enthusiasts should not miss. We were very pleased to support a wonderful new book 'The Horsemakers' brilliantly researched and written by Brian de Lore, which has just been released. It is a beautifully produced publication that tells the stories of 25 individuals and families who have played an important role in shaping the New Zealand thoroughbred industry.

Importantly, the book is also a fundraising initiative, with proceeds supporting the outstanding work of Dame Catriona Williams and the CatWalk Trust, which funds research into a cure for spinal cord injuries. It is a cause that is very close to the racing community, and one that Karyn and I are proud to support. You can read about this book and buy your copy here:

https://www.thehorsemakers.com/

I hope everybody has a great Easter and thank you, as always, for the wonderful support you give to Te Akau Racing.

If you are looking for some Easter break entertainment, there is a great series called 'Upon the Land We Stand' hosted by Kylie Bax which features a wonderful segment on Te Akau Racing. It is airing on Monday 13 April at 8pm on Trackside, and is also available on our website if you would like to watch it over the long weekend.

We are looking forward to spending Easter following our racing team and also with our daughter Lydia and her family - it's been quite the week as we also attended Grandparents' Day at St Cuthbert's with our granddaughter this week - such special times for us.  

Good luck to all our owners with horses racing over Easter - Go the Tangerine!