Time for Racing Fun

The Waikato Times featured Te Akau Racing in its recent racing supplement:

Te Akau Racing's success in recent years is testament to the homework David Ellis puts in ahead of the annual Karaka yearling sales.

But he's upping the ante ahead of the 2015 New Zealand Boodstock yearling sales series and says the rewards could be even juicier.

Ellis has been Karaka's leading buyer for the past decade, sourcing the likes of Darci Brahma, King's Chapel and Maroofity from the sale over the years.

"We'll be doing the same as what we've done in previous years. It's a formula that has worked unbelievably well. It's a formula that's seen around 1300 winners come out of our stable, well over 100 stakes' winners, 27 Group One wins," Ellis says.

"But we are trying to take it to another level this year by identifying every foal that each mare has had and why it performed well and why it didn't, why a particular mare is such a good mare and why a particular family continues to leave good horses.

"We've got [racing manager] Jamie Richards doing a lot of that homework for us. By the time the sale starts, we'll have seen every premier horse. Over the years we've bought a lot of horses in that $20,000 to $40,000 bracket and this might just give us the edge in terms of value for our owners. Three horses that come to mind that we've bought cheaply for out of Karaka are Integrate, which I bought for $11,000, King's Chapel for $35,000 and Maroofity for $40,000.”

Doing the extra homework fits with the Te Akau Racing philosophy of going the extra mile for its owners.

Ellis and his wife Karyn Fenton-Ellis love seeing Te Akau owners enjoying their racing experience and believe their stable is something of a one-stop shop.

"Nobody has as many platforms of opportunity as we do,” Fenton-Ellis says.

“People who get involved in racing a horse with Te Akau know it's going to be getting the full spectrum of education and training under one umbrella and all those owners have to do is sit back and have fun. Sure, there's the potential of lucrative return but the main thing is that getting involved with us is very accessible and affordable."

Part of the appeal of racing a horse with Te Akau, Ellis believes, is that each horse is given its best opportunity for optimal return, whether that be as a stallion prospect for a high-priced colt purchase or with the option of racing for lucrative returns with the stable's Singapore operation, under the guidance of former champion New Zealand trainer Mark Walker.

"We bought a Coat's Choice colt for $21,000 last year. He's won both his trials impressively and he's got a terrific racing future. We've sent him to our Singapore stable and he'll have his first race in a two-year-old race with a stake of $95,000," Ellis says.

"We're going to buy yearlings at all levels of the sale again. We'll put together a stallion syndicate to buy the best colts in the sale. This season, five stallions standing at stud in New Zealand we bought as yearlings - one of them New Zealand's leading stallion Darci Brahma, who stands at $30,000.

“At the farm at Te Akau, we've got six paddocks of Burgundy foals, we've got a couple of paddocks of Rock 'n' Pop foals and they are really quite outstanding individuals. We can see the real money to be made in the industry is from standing stallions.

"This season we went close to winning the 2000 Guineas, with Rockfast finishing second. If that colt had been able to win that, he would have had a terrific future at stud, being a Fastnet Rock colt out of a Sadler's Wells mare. We think he is a Group One horse and we're aiming him towards the New Zealand Derby.

“We bought Costa Viva for $100,000 and she became a New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year, won the 1000 Guineas. She's valued at over $1 million now.”

Fenton-Ellis notes that while Te Akau attracts many new owners at all entry levels each year, a lot of the business is with repeat clients, a tremendous endorsement that customer satisfaction is high.

The youngest Te Akau Racing owner is 17 and the oldest 94, but no matter the owner's age, Ellis says they can rest safe in the knowledge their horse is getting the best of care.

"We've got a hell of an advantage in having our own setup, so a horse stays under our management and control,” Ellis says.

“After the sales, they come back to Te Akau Stud where they go into paddocks where no horse has been in for four months. Those paddocks are prepared particularly for the yearlings. They have sheep and cattle in them and are shut up on Christmas day.

“We break the yearlings in at the farm and they have their own stables where they are handled. We feel this gives them a big advantage. We've just appointed our own farrier and we just try and do everything in a really professional manner.”

Main picture above: Te Akau owners Catherine Holmes, Judy Maynard, Jennie Georgetti and Pauline Hepburn with our stunning Savabeel/Lego filly at Karaka