Te Akau Thursday Update

David writes:

We had 12mls of rain on the farm yesterday which did absolutely nothing but it did settle the dust! The Waikato needs 120mls now to get the grass growing and the forecast is that it won't be arriving for another six weeks!

Luckily Te Akau Stud is still in great shape with plenty of grass for the horses although the quality of the grass has deteriorated, there is still plenty of bulk for the horses and the sheep and cattle are still thriving.

This morning we drafted 380 lambs to go to the works - Alan Radford, our fatstock buyer, was amazed at just how well the lambs had done in the last month and they will kill out in excess of 17kgs which in a drought is great farming.

Karyn and I enjoyed our day at the races yesterday - congratulations to the Auckland Racing Club on a day well executed.  The rain was around at lunchtime but quickly dispersed and it turned out to be a magnificent day.  We enjoyed a luncheon hosted by the president of the Auckland Racing Club Paul Kenny and his committee and then settled in for a top day of racing.  A good crowd was on course and it was a wonderful atmosphere.

We were very proud of the run by Abidewithme to finish second in the Group 3 Westbury Classic.  From a horrible draw, she rattled down the straight widest out and took ground off all of her competition except Chintz.  She is a beautifully bred daughter of Redoute's Choice out of Crimson, bred and raced by Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan.  She has already won two stakes' races and her talent on the track will stand her in good stead for her broodmare future.

Congratulations to our stable rider Matt Cameron on winning the Group 1 Auckland Cup yesterday.  It was also MATT'S 100TH WIN for the season - well done!! Matt was in a fair bit of pain after he was kicked by a horse at last Tuesday's trials.  However, he is tough, fit and determined - as well as reliable - and he certainly didn't let the team down. Karyn and I got a huge thrill in seeing him win another Group 1 and go further ahead in the NZ Jockeys' Premiership.

Matt is now on 100 wins (with 69 seconds and 79 thirds) - he has won 11 Group and Listed races for stakes of $2,104,126.

At Te Akau we are proud to be able to offer shares in young horses of such quality to all of our new and existing owners. The horses I have for sale are almost gone now - we have a couple of small syndicates in which we do have shares still available. Without exception I am thrilled with all of our yearlings.  You won't find a more stunning group of young horses on offer anywhere else in this country or even probably even in Australia for that matter.

Our Melbourne Cup Syndicate comprises a Zabeel colt and a Pentire colt (out of a Zabeel mare).  I bought both of these two colts as potential Derby winners who could then train on to be in an Auckland Cup,  Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup. Look at these two - the Zabeel colt is the first below and the Pentire is the second ... a 10% share in both of these colts is $22,500 plus GST and a 5% share is $11,250 plus GST.  Drop Karyn an email [email protected] and she can fill you in on all the details.

Talking about the sales (literally) - next week I am the guest speaker at a senior management event for ASB Bank executives from around New Zealand.  So I am spending the next 24 hours in Auckland preparing my address for that.

One of the things I am going to explain is that purchasing horses is about having a specialised vision - how I inspect 100's of young horses who to the untrained eye may look identical.  However my job is to attempt to separate the talented from the not so talented.

I guess it can't be an exact science and even the best judges will get it wrong occasionally as we can all attest - what is important is the ability to see what the horse has the potential to become, rather than what it is at the time of inspection.  This is where I pride myself in having some success.  Time is a great changer of the young horse and the ability to try and predict what impact time will have on a horse is the true gift of a good horse buyer.

Saturday will undoubtedly be another exciting day at Ellerslie where the Auckland Cup Carnival will come to a close.  We have Precious Time and Angelica Hall lining up - both will go well and I can see Angelica Hall winning a Group 1 race in the not too distance future - she is a top class filly by a sire I definitely think will make the grade.

Yesterday we sent Costa Viva (below) and Flirty Gertey back to the stable from Te Akau Stud where they had been spelling.  Costa Viva is one of the best fillies we have ever had in stable and I remember looking at her for the first time - her eye, her physique, her walk - everything about her said "put her away, I am going to buy her" which is exactly what I did.  She has already won a Group 1 and will win many more races in my opinion.