Te Akau TV - Weekend Preview

Welcome to this week’s Te Akau TV Weekend Preview as we look ahead to a busy few days of racing across New Zealand and Australia. This week, we’re catching up with Sam Bergerson for a look at a few of our horses from the Main Barn in Matamata.

As we move further into the Summer racing season, the days are warmer, the sun is shining, and all eyes are on the exciting weeks ahead as we build toward the Christmas carnival season. It’s an electric time of year for the team and our owners and supporters, with big racing moments just around the corner and plenty of momentum carrying us into the heart of the festive season.

It’s been a successful past week for the tangerine with wins from When Stars Align and Charmrose winning at Tauranga, and Cup Day in Christchurch saw our team racing well,despite the wild hail and unfortunate downgrading of the track to a Heavy9 which didn't suit most of them. Our attention now turns to the weekend with a busy programme with runners stepping out at New Plymouth, Pakenham, Pukekohe and Tatura.

On Friday, we kick off the twilight meeting at New Plymouth with El Viento, who lines up in the La Nuova BM75 1600m and heads into the race in good order as he steps up to the mile. Over at Sportsbet-Pakenham, Astari contests the Beraldo Coffee 3YO BM64 over 1200m.

Saturday we head to Pukekohe for Black Type racing on Counties' Cup Day - we kick off the day with Hakkinen in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers Championship Qualifier over 1600m. Our two-year-old colt With A Vengeance then lines up in the Listed Counties' Challenge Stakes, making his black-type debut after winning his first and only start to date.

Balance Of Power continues the staying theme in the BM75 Championship Qualifier 2100m, followed by Zantabulous in the HR Fisken & Sons BM75 1400m. In the Group 2 Dunstan Horse Feeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes 1400m, Qali Al Farrasha represents the stable as she looks to add to her black-type résumé. The day’s feature for the tangerine is the Group 3 MyRacehorse Counties' Cup, where both Midnight Blue and What You Wish For are our staying contenders for black-type honours.

At Tatura in Victoria, Signoretti tackles the 3YO Maiden Plate 1450m before Bright Stripes contests the bet365 Tatura Cup, to complete our Saturday's line up.

With runners across three countries and several key black-type targets, it’s shaping up to be an exciting weekend ahead for the stable. Best of luck to all our owners - GO THE TANGERINE!