The Road to Magic Millions: Te Akau's Hunt for Stable Stars

Te Akau Racing is on a mission to uncover the next standout Magic Millions champion, and the journey began in earnest this past week in New South Wales.

As soon as the catalogue for the Magic Millions January yearling sale was released, David Ellis CNZM and our team were digging deep into pedigrees, studying families, their progression—every finer detail.

Te Akau has a proven track record of sourcing exceptional talent from this sale—it’s a performance history that highlights the team’s dedication to acquiring the best yearlings Australia has to offer.

It's been a whirlwind 10-day tour of New South Wales, where David was joined by Marcus Corban and Reece Trumper to inspect yearlings on their home turf before they head to Queensland for the sale in January. Seeing these young thoroughbreds on their farms, in situ, allows our team to assess them in their natural environment, while in-depth discussions with breeders and stud personnel provide invaluable insights into these youngsters ahead of the sale.

The intensive itinerary kicked off at the iconic Widden Stud, where the team inspected 45 yearlings. We purchased a promising colt from this stud last year—watch for him, as he is a half-brother to Group 1 winner Move To Strike, called Cease and Desist. From there, it was on to Baramul Stud to view another 40 yearlings—this is the farm from which David purchased Move To Strike. The day culminated with inspections at Yarraman Park Stud, which, of course, stands the multiple-time Champion Australian Sire I Am Invincible, whose progeny includes our own superstar Imperatriz and the sale-topping colt David purchased at the Ready to Run Sale last week.

Wednesday continued at Yarraman with another 35 yearlings before the team moved to Bhima Thoroughbreds (vendor of Imperatriz), Sledmere Stud, and Vinery Stud. Thursday’s schedule was headlined by 63 yearlings at Newgate Farm, which, of course, offered Group 1 winner Sword of State, trained by Te Akau and now standing at Cambridge Stud.

Ridgmont Farm, Kia Ora Stud, and Segenhoe Stud followed, with an evening stay at the renowned Coolmore Stud in preparation to inspect 45 of its draft the next morning. One of the highlights of this visit was checking in on our former stable champion mare Avantage, whose daughter I purchased in January last year. Avantage looked simply magnificent, having blossomed into a stunning broodmare. A winner of nine Group 1 races, this daughter of superstar sire Fastnet Rock was bought by me for $260,000 and sold on retirement for an online world record of $4.1 million—a terrific result for her ownership group.

The team then evaluated yearlings from The Chase, China Horse Club, and Millburn Creek, from whom David purchased Group 1 winner Captured By Love last year. The draft of Silverdale Farm's yearlings came next, while another highlight was an overnight stay at Newhaven Park and a final look at a further 30 yearlings.

It was a demanding but highly valuable timetable, with a roster of elite farms now visited and top-flight yearlings all studied up close and in person.

We are leaving absolutely no stone unturned in our quest to secure the next Magic Millions' champions for our owners to enjoy the thrill of racing!