‘More depth this year’: Walker outlines Group 1 plans for Te Akau stars
There is no bigger name in New Zealand thoroughbred racing than Te Akau.
Runaway winners of last season’s trainers’ premiership, Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson have surged to an even greater mark in 2025/26 – currently sitting 35 wins clear of their nearest rival.
Come August 1, David Ellis’ tangerine army will have 13 NZ trainers’ premierships in the trophy cabinet, which is Chris Waller-levels of supremacy.
Replicating that sort of dominance in Australia is implausible, at least in the short to medium-term, but Te Akau Racing now have their roots firmly planted in Victoria after setting up a Cranbourne base in 2023.
“It’s really strong here. There is just nowhere to hide in Australia now, it’s very competitive wherever you go,” head trainer Walker said of the challenging move.
The Australian operation, led by Walker and assistant trainer Ben Gleeson, started with 20 boxes but that number has swelled to 70, with 45 horses presently in work.
Te Akau made an explosive start to life across the ditch, thanks largely to their champion sprinting mare Imperatriz who won six Group 1 races in Victoria.
“She was obviously marvellous but we had some other nice horses at that time too – Campionessa, Skew Wiff (Waikato Stud) and Sans Doute among others,” Walker said.
“We enjoyed an unbelievable start but then they all retired around the same time and we had to build the stable back up.”
The 2025/26 season has been a quieter one for the team, with this year’s numbers in particular taking a dip, but Walker says it’s been a development phase geared towards carnival time.
“We have a lot of talented horses that just weren’t ready to race (this season).
“We’ve got quite a few nice unraced three-year-olds that we’ve been putting the work into.
“The other thing is, both here and in New Zealand, we never really go to the horse sales looking to buy wet-trackers.
“We always try to get horses that want good ground, so it makes sense that our numbers aren’t as strong over the winter period,” Walker said.
With the spring carnival just around the corner, Walker is looking forward to seeing how a couple of NZ Group 1-winning youngsters measure up in Australia.
Glamour filly Lara Antipova, unbeaten across four starts and a dominant winner of the G1 Sistema Stakes (at $1.10!) had her first trial at Caulfield last week.
“She’s been very impressive but you just don’t know how the New Zealand form is going to stack up until you try,” Walker said.
“She’ll have another jumpout and will likely kick-off in the Quezette (on August 15).
“She’ll have to carry a Group 1 penalty there, which isn’t ideal, but we’ll aim to race her against her own sex and hopefully get to the Thousand Guineas with her,” Walker said.
Seize The Day, a destructive 4.5-length winner of the G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce, is also on a Guineas path.
“He’ll be aimed at the Caulfield Guineas and will have his first trial on August 3,” Walker said of the explosive colt.
“The plan is to head to the McNeil, followed by the Prelude, and hopefully he’s going well enough to tackle the Guineas.
“He won the Sires’ Produce with a lot of authority, but again, how is that going to measure up against the best here?”
One horse that Walker knows will measure up is Belle Cheval, a winner of the G1 Vinery Stud Stakes at her first Australian run in the autumn for Archer Investments.
“She’s going well and will resume in a mares race towards the end of August.
“The plan is to tackle the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes second-up,” Walker said.
Fellow Group 1 winner Geegees Mistruth will kick off her spring campaign in the G1 Moir Stakes and will be joined by stablemate Bellatrix Star.
“She (Bellatrix Star) went absolutely super the other day,” Walker said of the comeback mare.
A ‘big, strong daughter of I Am Invincible’ is also set to make her presence felt this spring, with Te Akau filly I Am Aria impressing Walker over the break.
“She’s a really nice type. Her first two runs in the Blue Diamond Prelude and Preview were excellent.
“We’ll look to get the maiden out of the way and then go from there, but I’m confident she’ll measure up to the better fillies.
“There’s a bit more depth to the squad than we had last spring, that’s for sure,” Walker said.
Two Te Akau Racing gallopers that are unlikely to feature in Australia this spring are Damask Rose and La Dorada, who will campaign in New Zealand.
