Te Akau Tuesday Update

David writes:

What an absolutely beautiful day it is at Te Akau Stud - watching the horses work this morning, all I could see was green grass and blue sky.  It really is a stunning time of the year!

We all had a great day at Ellerslie on Boxing Day however we had no luck with the horses with No Tricks being beaten a lip into second - but as you know the next day Jason and the team bounced back with four Rotorua runners delivering three impressive wins.

On Sunday I went to Ellerslie to see Madame Jamai and Imperium race and Imperium exemplified what a frustrating industry racing can be when things don't go to script.  This horse had been working up really well with his track work riders reporting that he felt absolutely sensational.  Somehow he had pulled a muscle in his hind quarters and he just never wanted to be a racehorse on that day.

To give you an example of how frustrating it is - our vet Doug Black went right over Imperium the day before the races and everything was 100% - we expected him to go a super race but everything turned to custard for him.  I still have a lot of confidence in this horse and think it is only a matter of time before he wins good races.  It just won't be in the next couple of weeks.  However I have noticed over the years that patience is a great thing and I remember Distinctly Secret going through a period like this and within 12 months he had won a Group 1 Kelt and two Group races in Australia - the Grand Prix Stakes and the Rough Habit Plate in Brisbane and he was of course third in the Caulfield Cup.

So when you have a challenging day like that - you just tell yourself that providing you do the basics right and have excellent staff, it only a matter of time before your luck changes.  Who knows, it might come as quickly as New Year's Day as we have some lovely chances and fingers crossed for the draws out at lunchtime today.

On the farm, we have no more cattle to kill for two weeks and we are very busy handling the mares and foals - each mare comes into the box with its foal for half an hour and we spend time picking the foal's feet up and generally handling the foal - it is a really satisfying process as the progress is very clear and we can see what we will have to train or sell in 12 months' time and the staff love this part of their jobs.

One foal who is an absolute stand-out is the Burgundy filly out of Mexican Rose - Mexican Rose was the Champion 2 & 3YO in Singapore.  Interestingly enough, on Sunday night we had James McDonald and Opie Bosson to stay and I took them around to look at the farm and the foals the next day and James recalled winning aboard Mexican Rose at her first start.  She is by Volksraad who is by Green Desert and there is no better source in the world than Green Desert speed.

Opie also told me that recently he has been working at Waikato Stud and he said it was amazing to see just what great quality the Rock 'n' Pop foals at the stud possessed.  Both Burgundy and Rock 'n' Pop are serious sires in the making and are certainly getting every chance looking at their foals.

Like all young sires in New Zealand at present, it is not easy to get big books of mares to stallions until they are proven.  However I always remind people that the greatest stallion (in my opinion) in the history of the thoroughbred was Northern Dancer and he had 16 live foals from his first crop and only 17 from his second crop.  So it is not just a numbers' game - a good sire can still leave good horses from small books.

Tomorrow Karyn and I are going to Auckland for New Year's Eve and are really looking forward to the races on New Year's Day - Karyn has to host The First Call before going to Ellerslie.  Boxing Day was such a thrill to be part of and it was great to see the Auckland Racing Club put such a great day's racing on for everyone.  To have to close the gates to "walk up" attendees without tickets by 1pm is an absolutely sensational result for our industry.

I would like to wish all our friends and owners and supporters all the very best for the New Year - may 2015 bring you everything you desire including lots of racing wins!   Mark has a nice team to race starting on New Year's Day in Singapore - so look for our runners there on Thursday at Kranji (they are all listed on our "stable runners" page too).  In New Zealand we also have some very exciting 2YOs who have won trials who are soon to step out at the races.  So stay watching!

All the very best for the New Year to you all!