Te Akau Tuesday Update

David writes:

I'll never forget this past weekend - we had some great friends out to Te Akau Stud to celebrate Karyn's birthday (which is tomorrow). The house was full on Saturday night and we 'opened the bar' at 3.00pm and sat down to enjoy the races in New Zealand and Australia.

I really do think that Derby Day at Flemington is the best day of racing in the Southern Hemisphere.

Can you imagine what our lounge was like when Melody Belle hit the front in the A$1 million Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes? At the 100m point the place completely erupted - even Lucia-Rose (main pic) our 19 month old grand-daughter was yelling "Go Go Go"! Opie and our Queen certainly did exactly that - what a celebration!

Well done to the Fortuna team that races Melody Belle and well done to Jamie and the team - it was great to see Jamie record his first Flemington Group 1 success. Congratulations too to our our stable rider Opie Bosson on another Group 1 win. It's incredible to think that he has never been beaten on Melody Belle!

Then an hour later, Prise De Fer put up a massive performance to win at Counties with 60kgs on his back - a beautiful ride too by Michael McNab. At the 150m mark it looked like he was going to be beaten but the horse (and rider) showed enormous heart - with Michael pulling the persuader over to his left hand - and he got up to win by a head. Very brave effort.

On Sunday the winning continued with Summer Monsoon saluting the judge at Motukarara in the South. That was Michael's 6th win for the week (including a Group 2 at Te Rapa) and was Jamie's 30th (NZ) win for the season! We also saw Red Rover win his third race in a row for our Singapore trainer Mark Walker on Sunday evening.

It certainly has been a frustrating Spring with the firm tracks where we don't need them and the soft tracks where we don't want them! We have some very nice horses to race in the next month so we do have an exciting time ahead of us. Te Akau Racing usually goes to another level when the plough at Matamata is in use and the tracks improve.

So yes - all in all - a thrilling Saturday and a very exciting weekend.

We are also thrilled for every one of our owners who we have won races for this season so far - we can assure you there are plenty more to come throughout the season ahead. Hats off too, to our wonderful, hard working stable and stud teams that truly dedicate their lives to the well-being and care of all of our horses.

This morning Jamie Richards and I inspected all of the horses that are spelling here at Te Akau Stud. It's always such a pleasure to see how well the horses are thriving during their break. The conditions have never been better in which to spell horses and the quality of the grass is just superb.

Our shearing is now all finished - we only had 250 ewes left to shear this morning along with 35 rams. All of our lambs have been drenched and weaned and have been spread out all around the farm.

Cattle prices went up again this week and are currently at record levels. There is huge demand from America and China for our meat. It's the first time in my farming career that beef, lamb and mutton are at record levels. This morning we are sorting up the five year old ewes and determining which ones we retain and which we sell.

This Saturday is Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas' day at Riccarton and we have Aotea Lad contesting the event. This race has been a "lucky" race for Te Akau - we have won it six times in the past 15 years. Aotea Lad is a classy son of Savabeel who actually won a Group 2 on debut as a two year old last season (below).

We also have our South Island Owners' Catch-Up and Karyn will be on course to host those who can join us at the races.

All the very best to our owners this week with runners across the country - hope you also enjoy all the Melbourne Cup coverage today - a race we have finished second in with Te Akau Nick (main picture).

Don't forget too that we are closing in on the Ready to Run Sale! Te Akau Racing - Mark, Jamie and myself - will be there for our final inspections and aiming to purchase two or three horses. If you are keen to be involved, give us a call - you will be made to feel very welcome. It's been a great sale for Te Akau with the likes of Gingernuts, Hall of Fame and Te Akau Shark (below) being purchased by me from this sale.

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