Te Akau Tuesday Update David writes: What an incredibly exciting time of the year it is! Last night we had 10mls of beautiful, warm rain and all the trees are covered in green leaves – yes Spring is really here! The new trees we planted look amazing – the cherry blossom trees are budding and I don’t think I have ever seen Te Akau Stud look so good. We have spent quite a bit of time this morning drafting cattle up to weight ranges. I have bought over 500 cattle in the last ten weeks and sold nothing so the farm is stocked right up to the hilt for this time of the year. With the exhange rate dropping that of course really helps exporters including people like me who sell cattle, as most of the cattle I sell is exported. There are numerous articles in the NZ Herald and Waikato Times about the huge shortage of beef and of course we have record prices at the moment – and with the drop in the exchange rate, these prices are predicted to go even higher. The trick will be for the farmers to get the exporters to pay the true value of the meat and that will be dependent on having a good Spring. The only advice I can give you is, if you like beef, fill the freezer now as it will get more expensive, especially in the short term. Today we have the Te Teko trials and Jason and the team are busy there and Jason reports that we have had some very nice trial performances including that of our Encosta de Lago/Grand Echezeaux filly who today had her first ever trial. She was there purely for education and was put under no pressure. This half sister to Burgundy and Darci Brahma is certainly starting to look the goods. We won several other trials today with horses that you will see step out over the next month. The plough was opened again this morning at the Matamata track and that always signals a return to racing in earnest for Te Akau Racing Stables – we have a group of really nice horses to race in the coming week with some really good chances and we are hoping too for a good track at Hawkes Bay on Saturday. One horse that I am really looking forward to seeing race this weekend is Wolfwhsitle – he is off to Hastings and has been working up well. We also have Rockfast entered in the Hawkes Bay Guineas and Matt Cameron reported today that he worked nicely at the track this morning too. Abidewithme is set to take her place in the Group 1 Livamol Classic – and together with the likes of Vive La Difference and Sir Darci (who both are last start winners) – the stable will be looking for some good results! This afternoon we have Gareth our farrier at Te Akau Stud – he is re-shoeing some racehorses we have working here at the farm plus he is also trimming the yearlings that we have entered in the January sales. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with John Galvin and we went and inspected a lovely Showcasing filly in Cambridge. Fortuna’s success in the past three months with horses I have bought for them has been great, with three trial winners from three triallists plus their last seven runners hhave produced six wins and a second. It is great to see the Fortuna team with such a nice team of horses around them. Over the weekend Jamie Richards attended the Gold Coast Sale where the dispersal of Nathan Tinkler’s entire bloodstock portfolio took place. The reports I have received from my contacts tell me that it was an extremely strong sale with huge interest in broodmares with nice pedigrees. They all made really good money and Magic Millions must be thrilled with the sale. Jamie is currently on the look out to source some nice trial performers that we are looking to buy and syndicate for Singapore. I am really looking forward to the new review show on Trackside that starts at 7.30pm on Monday night. It is called “Weigh In” and replaces the old Retro programme that was so popular but ceased about four-five years ago. The new panel is hosted by Daryl Anderson and features Butch Castles (who is as knowledgable a racing man as you will meet and who brings a huge amount of common sense to all racing matters), Mark McNamara and Matamata trainer Paul Shailer. It should be very entertaining as well as informative. On Thursday I am going to Sydney for the weekend to look at some horses and attend the Group 1 race day at Randwick and to catch up with clients of Te Akau Stud. It is a great weekend in Sydney. The big news of the week at Te Akau is the wonderful horsemanship that our really talented apprentice Daniel Miller displayed when riding Sunset Pass in the Baggy Hillis Memorial Steeplechase on Sunday. Sunset Pass shied at an advertising sign just after the third jump in the straight and this was also compounded by two riderless horses bolting past him. As a result, the saddle slipped and Dan showed amazing horsemanship, courage and intelligence in getting over the last jump in the straight with such little control. He impressed everyone in the racing industry by staying on – he rode the horse from the 1600m mark around without his feet in the irons – so effectively bareback -I bet he is a sore man today. He finished the race in sixth and returned to scale to universal applause. With the jumping season over, Dan is on a well deserved two weeks holiday. Here is a link to the story and the race – I am sure you will agree how masterful Daniel’s ride was under these circumstances! - stuff.co.nz/sport/10559024/Baggy-Hills-race-not-for-the-faint-hearted Have a great week and I will give you a full report on all the Sydney racing when I get home on Monday!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:40:13 +0000