Te Akau Racing’s Matamata stable has been a dominant force in New Zealand racing, but over the last couple of years, Te Akau principal David Ellis has cast his eye further afield.
New Zealand’s leading stable has subsequently established a permanent presence at Cranbourne in Australia and Riccarton Park in Christchurch, where they have recorded immediate success.
Christchurch has long been a strategic stronghold for Te Akau, but 18 months ago Ellis elected to have a permanent base in the Garden City, and lured former stable employee Hunter Durrant back from Australia to head their Riccarton Park barn.
In their first full season in Christchurch, Te Akau’s South Island base recorded 45 wins from permanent stable residents, giving them their first South Island Trainer’s Premiership.
Durrant was rapt to secure the title for his employers and said it was a rewarding result for his hardworking team.
“It is a great pleasure,” he said. “We have got a great team of staff down here, they work really hard all year round. We don’t quieten down a lot over winter with the poly, so there are some long, cold days and they keep going for us.”
Durrant has overseen the Riccarton barn from its inception nearly 18 months ago and he has been delighted with its progress over that time.
“It is approaching 18 months of a full-time stable down here for us,” he said. “It has taken a while to get systems and everything into place to be able to create a good environment down here for the horses, and we have got a pretty good system now.
“They come in and they settle in really well, and I think that is a key to it when they come down here.”
While their wins didn’t contribute to Te Akau’s South Island tally, Durrant said his biggest highlights this season came over New Zealand Cup week.
“Captured By Love winning the Group One (New Zealand 1000 Guineas, 1600m) was up there, also Mehzebeen winning both the Metropolitan (Listed, 2600m) and New Zealand Cup (Gr.3, 3200m) was pretty special.”
Durrant also experienced a professional highlight this season when promoted to assistant trainer to Te Akau Racing’s Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson.
“That was a great surprise when David (Ellis) spoke to me about taking onboard that role,” Durrant said. “I have to thank him a lot, he has supported me for years now and I am forever grateful to him, Karyn (Fenton-Ellis), Mark (Walker), and Sam (Bergerson).”
Their southern haul was also instrumental in Te Akau securing the National Trainers’ Premiership, with an overall tally of 131 wins, 27 ahead of Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh with just one meeting to go at Cambridge on Wednesday.
“We try our best all year round,” Durrant said. “Even the last couple of months we have really surged ahead with the poly racing, which always helps. We have got quite a strong poly team down here over the winter to keep us going.”
Durrant is enjoying life in Christchurch, and he is excited about the new term, with spring racing just around the corner.
“It is a great place to live and train, and I am looking forward to the seasons to come,” he said.
“We had a grass gallop session this (Tuesday) morning and we are starting to get on better tracks. You can definitely see the end of winter and it is exciting.”