Te Akau Weekend Update

David writes:

I have been spending the weekend getting everything organised on the farm because on Tuesday onwards I will be at Karaka looking at some final yearlings as well as my short list again - which will then be whittled down a little further.

I have a short list that I have narrowed down to 220 horses so obviously it will be further pared back!

I will also spend some time this weekend again going through the pedigrees of this short list and doing some extra research on matings.

Our racing team is really firing on all cylinders - each morning at Matamata we like to have the first of our horses go out on to the track at about 4.20 a.m. - the course is bright with lights but this morning the power was off in most of Matamata which meant that we couldn't start working the horses until about 6.00a.m.

On course this morning to put all of our Karaka Million horses through their paces was our stable jockey Opie Bosson.  Opie said that all the two year olds he either rode or worked with impressed him.

Our two three year olds for the Karaka Million 3YO race also worked stylishly.

We will have a very strong team for Ellerslie next Saturday at the Karaka Million meeting.  Starting with the first race with Sword of Osman and Burgundy Belle who line up in the Group 3 Mongolian Khan which Melody Belle won last year.

We certainly have a very exciting team to race in the next three months.

The Karaka Sale is closing in and I am so excited about the yearling sales starting tomorrow week.  The yearlings I have seen are the best line-up of young horses that I have seen for at least 20 years.  The quality is outstanding and I am predicting it will be a buyers' market - in fact I am certain it will be.

So when you combine the great quality and the buyers' market, you start to talk my language so I can't wait - bring it on!

At the recent Ready to Run Sale we purchased nine horses and they are all in the stable now and they have all impressed my track work riders.

These nine horses sold in full in three days and there were many disappointed  people who missed out on shares.  So to avoid missing out on Karaka and being disappointed, register for our Priority List with Karyn [email protected] and you will have the first crack at being involved.

Also watch for some exciting news we will announce soon about our website during the sales!!!

If you would like to come out to Karaka and spend some time with me and the team during next week and the sale, you would be made to feel very welcome.   You can give our Racing Manager Libby Richards a call on 0274 693478 or call me on 021 925161.

I was asked yesterday why we keep buying the majority of our yearlings at Karaka - my answer was direct: because we have had SO much success from this sale.

Think about this ... these are just some of the good horses we have bought from this sale ...

Captain Moonlight

$120,000 - Group 1 Zabeel Classic

King's Chapel

$35,000 - Horse of the Year, Champion 3YO & Champion Sprinter Miler - three Group 1's

Maroofity

$46,000 - Champion 2YO, three Group 1's

War Affair

$70,000 - 3 x Group 1 winner, Horse of the Year & Champion 2YO, 3YO & 4YO in Singapore

Warhorse

$100,000 - Champion 2YO, Group 1 Diamond Stakes' winner

Heroic Valour

$400,000 - Group 1 Sistema Stakes' winner, now at stud

Xtravagant

$375,000 - Champion 3YO, two time Group 1 winner

Sword of Osman

$160,000 - Group 1, Group 2 & Group 3 winner

Melody Belle

$57,500 - Champion 2YO, three time Group 1 winner, two time Group 2 (Australian & NZ) & Group 3 winner

Avantage

$210,000 - Champion 2YO, Karaka Million winner, Group 1 Sires' Produce winner

And there are plenty more ...

Darci Brahma who won five Group 1's and was Champion 2YO, Champion 3Y) and Champion Sprinter Miller at four, and Group 1 winners Embellish, Rock 'n' Pop, and exciting stallion and Group winner Burgundy - all standing at stud.

This week we have had photographers at the stud taking photos of Embellish who this year will stand this coming breeding season at the mighty Cambridge Stud. While he was posing for the camera, I kept saying to myself what a truly magnificent stallion he has grown in to.

Te Akau Stud will certainly be supporting Embellish at stud.  Next season there will be eight stallions at stud I have purchased and we have trained - and seven of them have come from Karaka.

With all this history - I was gobsmacked a few years ago when the NZ Racing Board told me it wasn't even going to have coverage of the sales!

When I heard that seven years ago I offered to sponsor the sales and have done so ever since.  Experience and feedback tells me so many people enjoy watching the sales so Te Akau is proud to bring this coverage to the screen.

Have a good week and enjoy the countdown to the Karaka Million(s) and the sales ...