Walker Off to Flying Start in Singapore

Five-time Champion New Zealand trainer Mark Walker has made a gun start to the newest chapter in his training career at Te Akau Racing's Singapore stable, already sitting in second place on the Singapore Trainers Premiership.

With his first runner just coming in September, Mark has already had eight wins from 31 runners, giving him the leading strike rate of 25.81%, ahead of fellow ex-pat kiwi Laurie Laxon on 19.30%.

Kiwi trainers are dictating terms at the top end of the Singapore Trainers Premiership with the six-time champion trainer Laurie Laxon leading the table with 11 wins, Mark Walker in second with eight wins and Steven Gray in third with five wins.

Mark was granted a professional trainer's licence by the Malayan Racing Association on June 11 2010 and has taken up stables in Kranji with a growing list of horses in training.

He opened his winning account in early November last year with a winning double with NZB graduates Rio Fortune (Captain Rio) taking the $75,000 Humanity Stakes (1200m) and Corsage (Volksraad) winning the $65,000 Kindness Stakes (1400m).

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The five time Group 1 winner Darci Brahma, bought by David Ellis for $1.1 million, and trained by Mark Walker, has his first progeny on the track this season.

Since then Mark has seen Te Akau Singapore really start to gain momentum and he has notched a number of winning doubles on the Kranji track. With wins already this year from promising horses such as Big Gallant (Savabeel), Mecca Star (Zabeel) and last weekend's latest winning double with Corsage and Polar Esprit (Bel Esprit), Mark has his small team off to a flying start.

"We have had a great start over here; it was a challenge initially to get everything organised and get the ball rolling. There were a few things we had to overcome as we couldn't bring any of our own staff over, and there was the language barrier to contend with as well, but we have got past all that and we are starting to find out feet and get a few winners which is great.

"We bought over mostly older horses and they have thrived in the consistant heat which has been a bonus, and they are running really well on the track.

"We are now getting a lot of interest from Singapore owners, initially we were training mostly for NZ clients, so to have more locals approaching us and asking us to train their horses is a good step forward for the stable and we are very pleased."

Mark will be returning to New Zealand in the coming days for the Karaka Yearling Sales where he and David (Ellis) will be looking to purchase their next track star.

"David and I will be attending Karaka next week with a view to purchasing more horses for the Te Akau operation. We will not be looking specifically for Singapore, we are just looking for sound athletic horses that can hopefully run anywhere, and see where they take us."

Te Akau Singapore is the international arm of Te Akau Racing, a business Mark shares with Te Akau Stud's New Zealand-based principal David Ellis. David is a staunch supporter of New Zealand thoroughbreds and has been the leading New Zealand buyer at the Karaka Sales for over five years.

"I'm so thrilled for Mark that he has got off to such a flying start. It has been a considerable investment for Te Akau to open a stable in Singapore, and it was a big move for Mark and his family, but we couldn't be happier with how it's going so far. In fact he currently lies second on the Trainers' Premiership with an outstanding strike rate to his and our team's credit.

"Mark will be there for the long haul and we are all focused on getting him a good stable of suitable horses, and the Karaka Sales next week is going to be an important part of this."

David has purchased over 100 stakes winners and has bought million dollar yearlings from the Karaka sales ring in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and in 2010.

One of his most successful purchases was the Danehill colt Darci Brahma from the 2004 Karaka Premier Yearling Sale for $1.1 million. Trained by Mark Walker, Darci Brahma was a Group 1 winner at two, three and four; and NZ Champion Two-Year-Old in 2004/05, NZ Champion Three-Year-Old in 2005/06 and NZ Champion Sprinter in 2006/07. The son of Danehill made over $1 million on the track and has made a promising start to his stud career with his first winner, Super Easy, now stakes placed and heading for Sunday's Karaka Million.

At Karaka 2010 David was the second leading buyer by aggregate spending $4.1m million on 29 horses. His purchases included the second-highest priced horse in the sale (at $1.3m), the colt by Australia's 2009/2010 Champion Sire Redoute's Choice from Grand Echezeaux, a half-brother to Darci Brahma.

In 2006, David went to $2.2 million to secure another half-brother to Darci Brahma, by Stravinsky, the second-highest price paid for a yearling in Karaka's rich history.

Te Akau Racing also has a strong record in the prestigious New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series, with Mark Walker training Insouciant to win the Series in 2008, Princess Coup in 2007 and Shikoba in 2006.

The talented filly King's Rose (Redoute's Choice x Nureyev's Girl) is the current leader in the 2010/2011 NZB Filly of the Year Series with 26 points, 14.5 points clear of her nearest rival.� She has already won the Group 1 NZB 1000 Guineas, the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes and the Group 2 NZB Royal Stakes and will be hard to run down in the Series. She holds nominations for the Group 1 NZ Derby and NZ Oaks and her trainer Jason Bridgeman will be hoping she can win him his first Filly of the Year Title.

Coverage for the Karaka Premier Sale will be brought to you by Te Akau Racing live on Sky Sports 3 from 10.30am on Monday 31 January and Tuesday 1 February. The Select Sale will run from 2 - 4 February with the Festival Sale on 6 & 7 February.