Te Akau Racing collected top honours at the 2024 New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards on Sunday evening, which was headlined by Imperatriz, who was named Horse of the Year, while the Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson partnership were Trainer of the Year.
Based in New Zealand, Singapore and more recently, Australia, Te Akau has collected the past four domestic Trainer of the Year awards with Jamie Richards (3) and last year’s record-breaking season by Walker, with the latter earning another title last season when training in partnership with Bergerson.
Bergerson had previously been an assistant trainer for the powerful stable before assuming the role of co-trainer at the start of the 2023/24 term, with 169 winners and 21 at Group or Listed level now to his name.
“I’m very fortunate to be in this partnership now and training with Mark, David (Ellis) and Karyn (Fenton-Ellis), and being part of such an amazing enterprise,” Bergerson said.
“I think we (Walker) have a pretty good relationship. I look at him more as a mate than a boss, we get on really well and bounce ideas off each other. Mark is great to deal with, he’s a very laidback person and very open. He handles adversity very well and never loses his cool.
“We’re so lucky to be training horses of the calibre that Dave and Karyn syndicate for us, it’s going really well and hopefully it can continue.
“Even speaking to my father (Roydon Bergerson) who has been in the game for a long time, he feels it’s the most exciting time to be a part of racing that he has seen.
“With Entain on board, hopefully it continues to improve and it’s certainly on the right track. In this game, timing is everything, and at the moment it’s perfect timing really.”
A winner of four Champion Trainer titles in Singapore and now seven in New Zealand, Walker recognises the fortunate position he has held at the helm of Te Akau over several years.
“It starts with David at the sales, then Karyn syndicating them, and Sam and I are blessed to get the horses. Any trainer in New Zealand getting the yearlings we have would be getting the same results, we’re just very fortunate,” he said.
Later in the evening, Te Akau’s sprinting sensation Imperatriz was recognised for a formidable season in Victoria with Champion Sprinter-Miler, SENZ New Zealand Horse of the Year and Outstanding Global Achievement all going the way of the superstar mare.
The daughter of I Am Invincible was formidable in what turned out to be her final season on the racetrack, winning the Gr.2 McEwan Stakes (1000m) fresh-up before an incredible run of Group One successes, including the Moir Stakes (1000m), Manikato Stakes (1200m), Champions Sprint (1200m) and Black Caviar Lightning (1000m).
Imperatriz’s final Group One victory was a back-to-back success in the William Reid Stakes (1200m) at her beloved Moonee Valley in March, and after finishing fourth in the Gr.1 T J Smith Stakes (1200m), she was subsequently retired and sold for A$6.6 million at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale to Yulong.
Te Akau principal Karyn Fenton-Ellis spoke of Imperatriz in the highest regard, who trialled in New Zealand last August before taking on the best sprinters in the land across the Tasman.
“We’re extraordinarily proud, she may be Australian-bred, but every intent and purpose, she was always a Kiwi,” Fenton-Ellis said.
“She was embraced by people on both sides of the Tasman, and to see her recognised as a career swansong, it’s a great testament to her brilliance, her resilience and speed.
“Specifically, the Global Achievement is very special, because in the 2023 calendar year, she won more Group One races than any other horse in the world. In the 2023/24 season, she won more (Group Ones) than any other horse in Australasia, and was the highest rated sprinter in the world, so it was truly a global achievement.
“She’s got quite a few (special people) in her life, Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson did an exceptional job throughout her career and prior when Jamie (Richards) was in New Zealand. When she transferred over to our Cranbourne stable after trialling here, Ben Gleeson and his team were magic. Laura Winks adored her, she rode her in trackwork every day and Jason Levin, her strapper, the love he had for her was evident and they were a formidable combination.
“Her ownership group is like family, we’ve lived together, travelled together, it’s been an extraordinary journey. Not to forget Opie (Bosson), he rode her in all of those Group One races and Michael Dee in the Group Two.
“They say it takes a village, but I say it takes a family.
“It’s easy to love sensational racehorses, but the love of the horse is more than Group One wins. She was a kind, generous soul who would get under people’s skin.”
Imperatriz was raced by the Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership, with members John Elstob and Denise Bassett of JD Bloodstock awarded Owner of the Year with involvement also in the likes of Captured By Love, Move To Strike, Ascend The Throne and Star Of Justice, all Group winners across the season.
