Te Akau TV - Your Te Akau TV Weekend Preview Awaits!

What a week it was! The Te Akau Tangerine team is on fire!

Welcome to this episode of Te Akau TV! This week, Hamish is once again joined by our NZ Racing Manager, Reece Trumper, as we assess this week's runners and prepare ourselves for some not-to-be-missed weekend racing!

Last week, we were on fire with wins on both sides of the Tasman. It all started on Thursday when Sir Peter Vela celebrated a victory with Firriato, a mare he bred under his famous Pencarrow Stud brand.

Saturday was an unmissable spectacle as we watched It's Business Time, the favorite for the upcoming Group 2 Coupland's Bakeries Mile during Cup week, race to victory for the Windsor Park team at Riccarton. How good it was to see our former Group 2 Wellington Guineas winner, Cognito, bounce right back into the winner's circle, courtesy of a gun ride by our apprentice, Niranjan Parmar.

But arguably, we saved the best for last! It was nothing short of phenomenal to witness Imperatriz, our superstar, clinch her 7th Group 1 title in the Manikato at Moonee Valley in Melbourne. She's now known as the "Queen of the Valley" and remains unbeaten in her four starts there this year. She's the first-ever horse to claim the Triple Crown - the clean sweep of Moonee Valley's Group 1 sprinting titles: the William Ried, the Moir, and the Manikato (with the Group 2 McEwen Stakes title in between).

We are blown away by the fact that her five Group 1 wins in 2023 mean she has won more Group 1s in this calendar year than any other horse in the world! Wow, the Kiwi Queen... and her latest win has seen her rise to No. 4 in the world in the latest global rankings.

She's now set to conquer the Group 1 Championship Sprint on the grand finale of the Melbourne Cup Carnival on Saturday week at Flemington. It's ironic that she was by far and away the last horse to sell in her year!

We are quite proud that Te Akau Syndicates appear as No. 7 in the world for owner success. Now, that's quite something when you consider that the powerhouses Godolphin and Coolmore rate No. 1 and 2!

The Te Rapa trials on Tuesday were also a treat, with standout performances from Maven Belle, Wild Night, Wolverine, and promising 2YOs to keep a close eye on, such as Marucato, as well as debut winner Bellatrix Star.

This week, we have a small but mighty team of runners across the North Island, with racing kicking off Friday at Te Aroha and more action at Tauranga & Trentham on Saturday, while the striking grey mare, Grace 'N' Grey, makes her Australian debut at Mornington on Sunday.

Looking ahead to next week we can't wait to see Skew Wiff, whom we train for the team at Waikato Stud, in action as she competes in the Group 3 HKJC Stakes on Melbourne Cup Day. We're also very excited to be heading to the South Island to support our Southern team on Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas Day in Christchurch as well as having eyes on Melbourne.

There's a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, and that actually means we're only 54 sleeps away from the Boxing Day Races!

Best of luck to all our runners and connections this weekend!

GO THE TANGERINE!