David writes:

Congratulations to the Auckland Racing Club (ARC) for putting on such an amazing day of racing on Saturday for Auckland Cup Day.

The Club had less than 24 hours to prepare for the Auckland Cup meeting and it was just an amazing effort by the whole ARC team.

Paul Wilcox is doing an incredible job as a CEO and the ARC has a really good board of keen racing enthusiasts. I admire the time and effort that boards and committee members invest into these clubs. These people get involved because they love racing and all the work that they do is voluntary - free of charge - they do it for the love of the industry.

As Karyn and I left the course after the last race on Saturday, I couldn't stop thinking about what an amazing performance our team had delivered and that we had been privileged to enjoy and experience.  Of course on Derby Day a week earlier, Te Akau had won five races (half the card) including three stakes' races but sadly we could not be on course due to COVID alert level restrictions.

To quinella two Group 1 races on one day is incredibly special. It was also the third year in a row that we have won the Group 1 Sistema Stakes and the Group 1 Bonecrusher Stakes - it was all just so exciting.  We are just so proud of Jamie and the whole team, and delighted for our owners.

One thing that was pointed out to me on Saturday was that four of our five Karaka 2YO Million winners were running on Saturday. The only one that wasn't was Cool Aza Beel, as he is now at stud at Newhaven Park in Australia.

Who said 2YO's don't train on? - I have never believed in that theory!

The four horses that I am talking about are of course Melody Belle, Avantage, On the Bubbles and Probabeel - and we need very little reminder of what each of these horses have achieved since.

I would like to congratulate Fortuna's John Galvin for the wonderful job he has done in managing Melody Belle. We are all very proud to have them in the team.

I thought you would like to see the film of Melody Belle, who has just broken the all-time record for Group 1 wins, being sold at Karaka - click here: MELODY BELLE AT KARAKA

So far this season, we have won 34 Group/Listed races, 12 being Group 1 races - that is a New Zealand racing all-time record of stakes' wins in a season! That doesn't even include the four Group races Jamie and the team have also won in Australia. Horses that I have purchased at the yearling sales have won 12 Group 1 races this season already - and we haven't finished the season just yet!

I would like to congratulate and thank all the team members who look after our horses and do such an amazing job, both here at Te Akau Stud and at our stable in Matamata. My way of thinking is that they are the true heroes of this success.  I absolutely applaud them for their passion and professionalism.

I would also like to congratulate all the owners that have had success this season and have invested with Te Akau Racing - without our owners, none of this would be possible.

On Friday I was up early and went to the Viaduct Basin and Headquarters Restaurant for lunch. What an amazing atmosphere it was down there with the Americas' Cup Racing. It was really quite incredible and if you enjoy top quality food and service, Headquarters is the place to go! I took some of my old friends there for lunch, including Colin Jillings as it was a very special celebration for him.

Colin is a New Zealand Hall of Fame trainer, and it was his 90^th birthday. As I have previously said, Colin has taught me more about racing than any person that I have ever met and it was an honour to share his special day with him.

It was a jammed pack weekend, we were at Ellerslie on Saturday and spent a lovely evening with good friends on Saturday night. Then on Sunday we travelled to the Waikato for Danielle Johnson's 30^th birthday party in Cambridge - what a fantastic way to end such an incredible weekend.   From left below: Danielle with Te Akau's Lena Jones, Libby Richards & Nicole Shailer

We now only have shares left in three yearlings - and the one I want to highlight today leaves me gob-smacked that he wasn't among the very first to sell!  He is a striking Almanzor colt out of Champagne Katie.

This is one of the nicest yearlings that you will ever see. Will he be responsible for carrying on the wonderful hit rate that the last horse to sell has?  As I have said before, the last horse to sell has incredibly success. Last year it was Imperatriz, who has had two starts for two wins, including a Group 2 victory. The previous year was Champion 2YO, Karaka Million and Group 1 winner (now sire) Cool Aza Beel - other top horses that have been the last to sell also include Champion 2YO, Karaka Million and eight-time Group 1 winner Avantage.

One of the reasons that I feel the Almanzor colt is the last to sell is due to the original photograph that we had on our website - it did not showcase what an absolute cracker of a colt he is!

We have found a much better-quality photograph of him that does him total justice. Go and take a look for yourself on our Yearlings and Shares' page- you won't be disappointed! You will see from his video what a beautiful colt he is.

Life at Te Akau Stud at the moment is certainly full-on! We have started breaking in the first group of sale yearlings, we had a film crew here this morning and today we are also putting fertiliser on by truck on the farm. We use Wealleans Groundspread - Gavin and Shane Wealleans are very good clients of ours and invest in yearlings each year. It's a really top company, and it is great to support them.

We have a big team trialling at Cambridge today and we have races at Matamata tomorrow before the Oaks' day at the Trentham on Saturday. We always look forward to this big race day. We have three good chances in the Wellington Guineas and the hot favourite Amarelinha in the Oaks.

I was quite interested in watching Weigh In last night to see that Amarelinha is also the favourite for the Sydney Oaks and I have had my former stable jockey James McDonald is keen to ride her in Australia. She is certainly a very exciting filly and showed some ticker to get up and win at Ellerslie at her last start in the Group 3 Sunline Vase.

Best of luck to all our owners with runners this week and ...

GO THE TANGERINE!