Te Akau Tuesday Update

David writes:

Well what an incredible weekend for Te Akau - one of those special weekends to remember!

I read a media story that reported that Te Akau had a somewhat frustrating and disappointing day of racing on Saturday.

I have to say, that statement could not be any further from the truth!

Let me assure you, that every day you wake up and win four races in New Zealand, including a Group 1, and break the all-time record of wins in a season and have three Sydney runners finishing second and fourth in major Group races - it's certainly is NOT a disappointing day.

I was very proud of how all three of our horses Probabeel, Amarelinha and Entriviere raced and paraded in Sydney on Saturday. This is an absolute credit to Ashley Handley and Craig Thornton who have been based in Australia for some months for us.  While Amarelinha and Entriviere only arrived in Sydney last Monday,  Ashley and Craig have delivered outstanding care to our various horses who have campaigned in Australia over the last 12 months eg Melody Belle, Probabeel and last year Te Akau Shark.

With our trainer Jamie Richards unable to travel trans-Tasman due to Covid restrictions, this level of professionalism, their dedication and ability to follow Jamie's wishes to the minute - everything they have done based 'on the ground' in Australia has been outstanding!

Karyn headed to Sydney for the Randwick races on Saturday while I was off to Te Rapa. I arrived at Te Rapa a little bit later than I anticipated as I had owners visiting the farm to see their horses so unfortunately I missed the first race. However, I was thrilled to watch Feelin' Fancy win at Hawkes Bay. This filly was Te Akau's 144th winner for the season and thus we broke the all-time record wins for a season.  I was accompanied by Jamie's mother Leanne Richards who came and watched the race with me at Te Rapa. It was a momentous occasion for us, and for Jamie. We couldn't have been prouder of this massive achievement!

Feelin' Fancy is owned by Windsor Park Stud and it was great that one of their horses, who races in their distinctive colours, set the new all-time record. Feelin' Fancy also gave jockey Danielle Johnson her 1000^th win earlier on in the season too.  Windsor Park Stud and Te Akau have had a long standing friendship for over 35 years, and we have won many nice races for this great stud, and we are very appreciative of the support that they give us.

The all-time record for wins in a season stood at 143 and was previously held by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, two of the very best trainers that this industry has ever had.  In fact Te Akau (now Singapore) trainer Mark Walker also established a new New Zealand record for all-time wins about 14 years ago.  With Mark at the helm we broke the record that had been held by the legendary Dave O'Sullivan and his son Paul for some 17 years.

Another highlight on this very special day was of course Avantage winning her fifth Group 1 win for the season, bringing her career tally to nine.  She now sits second behind Melody Belle for the most domestic Group 1 victories. She is also the most prolific Group 1 winner for her famous sire Fastnet Rock.  We know how many good horses this Champion Sire has left internationally, so for her to be his best is something we can be very proud of.

In winning the Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes, Avantage beat home three very good horses that I think will all go on to win Group 1 races over the next 12 months.

Avantage is just the type of horse I always look to buy. One that will win a two year old race over 800m, win the Karaka 2YO Million over 1200m, win the Sires' Produce over 1400m and go on in following seasons to win at 1600m and 2000m.

As I said, Avantage has had five Group 1 wins for the season - the Telegraph, the Railway, the Waikato Sprint, the Otaki-Maori WFA and now the Breeders' Stakes -, what a gutsy mare she is! It was certainly a proud day all round and we have had many reasons to celebrate.

To all our owners who have made these results happen - you are heroes of our industry through your support and loyalty! Karyn and I get such a big thrill seeing the pure enjoyment that Avantage's owners receive from this great mare.  We also enjoy seeing the thrill our owners receive winning a maiden race as well!

I would also like to congratulate Willy and Karen Calder, who bred this fantastic mare. I would also like to salute all our team members at Te Akau Racing and Te Akau Stud - we can only achieve these results with the incredibly hard work our whole teams invests in, and the passion they have for, our horses. We honestly must have the best staff that we have ever had in every aspect of the business.

The winning of course didn't stop there and it was wonderful to see our Singapore trainer Mark Walker deliver yet another winning double!  Mark currently lies second on the Singapore Trainers' Premiership.

Closer to home - I have never seen the farm looking so good for April.

We have just an amazing amount of grass and the stock are doing so well. It is also great that the horses enjoy such nice grass while they are spelling. We drafted another 200 lambs yesterday with my stock agent Alan Radford and they have been sent off to the works this morning. I believe they will average at 18.5kg, which is a top result for this time of the year.

The rain that we are going to receive here at the farm tonight and tomorrow will be brilliant, as we have just put grass seed down on 70 acres of country that we have ploughed up. Before that, these paddocks had been put into a crop and now we are turning them back into rye and clover paddocks.

The reason I put these paddocks into a crop is because they were full of bull holes. The contour of these paddocks is great but after farming bulls on this land for 25 years, they had made a real mess of the paddocks. Bulls are incredibly profitable but require a lot of maintenance and we have since moved to farming steers. It was time to return these paddocks to their former glory!

Troy Harris, who is one of our stable jockeys and one of the best horsemen that I have ever seen, is out helping Stephanie Hyde-Richards riding our breakers on the farm.  I have to say, the quality of our yearlings is the best I have seen and we have incredibly nice horses to train for the coming season.

The Iffraaj filly that we purchased for the Boys Get Paid team is a real cracker. We had a social occasion on Sunday for BGP at the farm (main picture), so that they could meet their filly up close and personal before she takes the next step in her early education and heads into the stable. She is a beautiful two year old type and I believe you are going to hear a lot about this filly in the very near future.

I would also like to let you know that “Weigh In”, our industry's only dedicated weekly thoroughbred review programme, has been extended until June.    This popular show screens on Trackside on Monday nights at 8pm across New Zealand, is telecast in Australia and is available online.   “Weigh In” was originally scheduled to conclude its season in late April but thanks to the generosity of its sponsors, and the huge feedback from viewers, it will now run until 14 June.

This will see “Weigh In” cover New Zealand racing on a weekly basis and provide crucial market updates of Kiwis competing in Australia, in particular in Sydney and Queensland. The start of the jumps' racing season in New Zealand will also feature.

This programme is such an asset to our industry, and there are still many issues that need to be discussed through this platform but haven't - only due the cracker of a season that New Zealand racing is having. I would highly recommend tuning in for the rest of the season - it will be full of content that you do not want to miss!