Te Akau Tuesday Update

David writes:

It has been a busy few days for us all at Te Akau with plenty of exciting events to report on.

The weekend started off again on a very positive note with Mark Walker training his 52nd winner at Kranji on Friday night.  Mark, Gus and Karen and the whole team have had a really good season thus far and Mark, the 2015 Singapore Champion Trainer, currently lies third on the Trainers' Premiership.

To give you an idea of just how well our Te Akau Singapore team is firing - Mark has also recorded a frustrating 66 runner up and 74 third placings - many of these with horses being beaten by narrow margins.

In New Zealand we saw the talented one start, one win filly O'Naturelle secure her first black type at just her second appearance when she finished third in the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes at Riccarton.  This is a race that Te Akau has won for the past two years and, from memory, I think five times in total.

O'Naturelle is an O'Reilly filly that we train for her breeder James Chapman and her debut win on the tight-turning Taupo track was certainly an eye catcher.  We were very happy with her effort on Saturday considering it was her first trip away from home and also her first attempt on the big, roomy Riccarton track.  She will take massive improvement from this and still looks on target for the November running of the Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas, a race we have won four times in the past 12 years.

Sassy ‘n' Smart, another 1000 Guineas' candidate, stepped out at the Group 3 Hawkes Bay Breeders' Stakes also on Saturday and she went a solid race for sixth, not having all favours from her draw and in the running.

Sunday was a special day for our Matamata team - we sent one horse to the Counties' meeting at Pukekohe Park and he was an emphatic winner fresh up.  Zambezi Warrior showed us plenty last season and is was disappointing that he did not make the Group 1 NZ Derby field, after being severely interfered with in the lead up race - extinguishing his chances to run in the Derby.  He was also runner Group 2 Championship Stakes so we knew there was plenty in store for him this new season.

Our apprentice Jasmine Fawcett was aboard Zambezi Warrior and she rode him a treat, right to instructions.  We were thrilled to see Jasmine claim her first race day win.  She is a really diligent, hard-working young woman - a pleasure to have in the team - and we are sure that this is the first of many wins ahead for her.

Zambezi Warrior was purchased by me for $75,000 from the Karaka Premier Sale and was the last horse I would buy from my dear friend Rex Fell who sadly passed away earlier this year.  He is a son of Pentire who will just keep getting better with age.

Speaking of sons of Pentire - we have been overwhelmed by the trans-Tasman interest in Xtravagant's progress, especially surrounding his trial at Cranbourne yesterday.  Damien Oliver rode him in the trial and we were very happy with how he performed.  After his disappointing effort at Flemington, he basically hadn't had a race so we decided to give him a trial to further show us where he was at.  We had had him checked out from tip to tail following Flemington and physically nothing was found to be amiss and his blood tests were clear.

Damien said he felt fantastic - he easily made the lead but Oliver started to “throttle him down” from the 200m with a race looming on Saturday.  Both Stephen Autridge, who is in Melbourne, and Oliver were very happy with his effort - including his pre-trial behaviour - and he will take his place on Saturday in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clark over 1400m at Caulfield - with Oliver opting to stay with “Blake”.

It would be great for our boy to show the Australians just how good he can be - make no mistake, he faces some very in-form horses so he will have to be at his best.  Interestingly, most Australian bookies still have him in single figures (around $9) in their markets.

The other highlight of the weekend (aside from the All Blacks winning!!) was a dinner that Karyn and I hosted in Auckland on Friday night for my daughter Sarah and her fiancé Nick and her wedding party.  It was a really lovely occasion with Sarah and Nick's wedding now just over a fortnight away.

One of her bridesmaids, my other daughter Lydia, could not be there because she lives in London.  However she is due to fly in next week with her partner Jamie (it is his first ever trip to NZ) so we are really excited to welcome her home.  They both, together with her sister Julia-Rose and her partner Hamish, will join Karyn and me at the final day of the Hawkes Bay Racing's Spring Carnival meeting at Hastings where Heroic Valour will contest the Group 2 Hawkes' Bay Guineas - a race we have won with Darci Brahma and Tell A Tale who both went on to win the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas.

We have some smart types and emerging 2YOs trialling at Avondale today so I am looking forward to hearing how they perform and we will have a report on this website later for you.