Te Akau Weekend Update

David writes:

Karyn and I have only another five days remaining on our Hawaiian holiday - and we have had such a special time with family and with friends.

Each night we "open the bar" in our room at 5.00pm before we head out somewhere locally for a meal.  Last night we went to probably my favourite restaurant in Honolulu.  It is situated at Diamond Head about a five minute taxi ride from our hotel.  It has beautiful seafood plus really good beef and many of the dishes are cooked for you at the table.

Last night my friends asked the waiter where the lamb racks came from and he was told 'New Zealand'.  So I asked to see the label on the packaging and as I thought - it actually was Australian lamb not New Zealand lamb!!! (the waiter was very apologetic as he genuinely believed it was New Zealand produce).

Now as most people know, I have a reasonably substantial sheep farm and even my really good Australian friends acknowledge that you can't beat New Zealand lamb.

I have been going to this restaurant regularly for about 30 years and know the manager there really well and after dinner, he came to sit down with us for a while for a chat.  I was really disappointed when he told me that he actually couldn't buy New Zealand lamb in Honolulu and that nobody had ever been to see him to promote New Zealand lamb - and this is an establishment which has a huge reputation, so you have to wonder why not.

To give you an example, when we were there a few nights ago - a couple of tables down Bill Clinton, actress Jessica Alba and 007 Pierce Brosnan were dining!  Talk about missed opportunities New Zealand!  When I get home, I am going to look in to starting a company to promote New Zealand lamb into Hawaii.

The only race meeting in New Zealand on Saturday took place at Ruakaka.  Just imagine the total cost of taking horses four to five hours drive away to race.  I have been saying and talking to the racing leadership for years and years now that we need an all-weather track in the north.

I don't think it matters if it is at Ellerslie, Te Rapa, Counties, Cambridge or Matamata BUT when we live and race in a country with an annual rainfall of over 50 inches a year, you need an all-weather track!

I am certainly not criticising the Whangarei Racing Club in any way, shape or form (it is a dynamic and really passionate Club) as it has done very well but the trainers at Matamata and Cambridge shouldn't have to travel all that way to race - and more importantly the owners should not have to pay the huge expense of going that far.  After all these two training centres probably supply the majority of the northern racing population.

Also I believe that generally horses from Matamata and Cambridge do not perform to their optimum there as they travel all that way for the day.  I believe that where a float trip of more than about three hours is involved, horses really need to travel to the location concerned the day before.

If you had an all-weather track in the north, you could race most Wednesdays during June, July and August - we could trial every Tuesday and just think - we could then preserve our grass tracks for Spring racing or even rationalise and do away with some tracks altogether.

Everyone at Te Akau Racing is starting to get excited about the new season and Spring racing.  We have over 40 horses scheduled to trial at Te Teko on 1 August - Tuesday week.  Together with our more experienced horses and our three year olds - we have a very strong team of rising two year olds to trial in the next couple of months and uncovering this potential is always a time we love.

In the last week I have still been busy with tasks that need to be completed and I have spent quite a lot of time studying my broader matings for the coming breeding season.

Easily the best value is Burgundy - literally every Burgundy that we have in the stable can gallop.  he is leaving beautiful horses with great temperaments.  I have always said that Burgundy is the fastest horse that Te Akau has ever trained - and it's a fact that he is passing this speed on to his progeny.

Also look out for the Rock 'n' Pop's this coming racing season.  I expect to see many of them in the winner's circle - the stallion himself was not a two year old and expect his 3YO crop to really fire.

All the very best for a great week ahead - and good luck to Mark Walker and the Te Akau Singapore team with two runners in the S$250,000 feature tonight at Kranji - Viviano who we trained for Raffles' Racing and also Distinctive Darci who I bought from the Karaka Sale for a Singapore stable client - he is a real up-and-comer and last start when he won fresh up, he broke the Class record and almost the track record too.