Te Akau: Te Akau Tuesday Update/Viewpoint

Date: 3 Apr 2013

Te Akau: Te Akau Tuesday Update/Viewpoint

We reflect on a huge Te Akau weekend and offer some thoughts as well.

David writes:

What a fantastic racing weekend for Te Akau!

I am so proud of Jason and Mark and all of our staff who have worked so very hard to bring about the results that our owners enjoyed over the weekend.

To win four races in Singapore and two black type races in New Zealand (half of the black card programme at Awapuni) would have to rate as one of the best all-time weekends for Te Akau and for our owners.

The highlight for me was seeing Matt Cameron win the Flying Stakes on Burgundy - I thought that the courage, determination and pure guts Burgundy showed will stand him in terrific stead as a successful stallion in the future. Burgundy has more natural speed than any horse we have ever had at Te Akau and when I breed to a stallion, I want to breed a horse that has ability, a huge heart and real determination. So already I am looking forward to seeing the “little Burgundies” in the future.

It was another hugely satisfying moment when 40 minutes after Burgundy won his Listed feature to see the grand horse Better Than Ever also put in a game and gutsy effort to win the Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup. It takes a very good horse to win this race as you can see from its roll of honour. Te Akau has won this race twice previously with Distinctly Secret and Saturday's win by this Champion Singapore galloper was a huge thrill for everyone involved.

Better than Ever just loves being paddock trained back here in New Zealand and each morning after Tommy Hazlett works him at the track, he goes out to a nice, big paddock and has a roll and is a very happy horse spending his day relaxing. He is a horse who truly appreciates a nice, big, green paddock.

I thought that the connections of Better Than Ever showed great vision in nominating their horse for two features on Saturday. His record at 1400m is outstanding and far better than his record over 2000m. So it was only natural that they wanted to analyse the draws, the track conditions, the final fields and get a report on his Thursday trackwork before committing to which race he would run in.

Tang Weng Fei who races Better Than Ever is an owner who loves his horses and only wants to do the very best for the horses he has and Better Than Ever has been the Champion Horse of the Year in Singapore and is admired and idolised by all racing fans in Singapore.

It has been drawn to our attention that there has been some criticism of the fact that Better Than Ever had dual nomination/acceptances for Awapuni. There is an incredible amount of jealously in our industry that seems to fuel such criticism. Sad but true - the better you perform in racing, the more this raises its ugly head.  It is usually driven by ulterior motives/axes to grind and most critics do so under gutless nom de plumes. If we ever have anything to say, we do so proudly with our name attached.

Let us make this perfectly clear, once and for all.

The moment an owner can't have the option of deciding which race their horse will start in, is the day we close down Te Akau in New Zealand. It is an owner's right and privilege to be able to make this decision. To the jealous and unnamed critics who have accused us of not abiding by the rules - shame on you! We will always act in our owners' best interests - and most importantly, not only within the rules but within the spirit of the rules. Te Akau abhors cheating and stands strong on winning by performance.

On a more positive note, wasn't it great day for the New Zealand breeding industry with It's a Dundeel dominating the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas? Interestingly he is bred on exactly the same cross as our High Chaparral/Our Echezeaux colt that I bought at Karaka for $620,000.

Also a particular highlight for me was seeing Recite - the daughter of Darci Brahma - win the Group 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes. In the past month, Darci Brahma has sired the winners of the Group 2 Matamata Breeders Stakes, the St Leger Trial, the Group 1 Otaki WFA and now the Group 1 Sires' Produce - not forgetting that his daughters were second and third in the Group 1 NZ Oaks.

Congratulations to Dick Karreman and Rick Williams of The Oaks Stud on a fantastic win by a fine filly.

I have enjoyed the racing in New Zealand in the last five months as much as any period I can remember. To see horses of the calibre of Ruud Awakening, Recite, Boundless, Habibi and Fix - all fillies - has made me all the more determined to buy more really top colts to keep the girls honest - as well as happy in their retirement!!

I am now looking forward to the week ahead - I am confident that Rudd Awakening can, with a good draw, at least run in the money in the Group 1 Golden Slipper. That would be a huge result for the New Zealand breeding industry. I would like to wish Albert and Stephen and all the owners of this filly the best of luck for Saturday.

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