Te Akau principal David Ellis CNZM is a man who has dedicated a lifetime of passion and commitment into the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, and is being honoured as an inductee into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
Ellis had his first winner as an owner in 1978 at Paeroa, while Cosmetique, which he purchased and raced, provided his first Group One win in the 1986 Easter Handicap.
Since first selling shares in horses he had purchased in 80’s, Ellis has grown Te Akau Racing to become the most successful syndicator of horses globally – no small feat from an island country in the Southwest Pacific.
Having established Te Akau Stud from an original 500 acres to over 4000 acres, which predominantly farms sheep and cattle, with an interior 800 acres post and railed for horses, Ellis has become known as the “King of Karaka” or “King of the Ring” having been the leading buyer at the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales Series for the past 19 consecutive years.
He has also been the leading buyer six times at the NZB Ready to Run Sale, and in 2024, replicated that status at the Magic Millions’ Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast of Australia.
In 2024, David Ellis has signed for/syndicated 76 horses for $25 million from sales throughout Australasia, and Europe, and privately.
He has bought and syndicated yearlings and two-year-olds from New Zealand and Australia, from as far away as Europe, traded and syndicated older racehorses, and bred horses, all to be shared in ownership by family, friends, and owners across the world.
From the main stables at Matamata, and now with a permanent base at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch, Te Akau has trained over 2700 winners, nearly 400 stakes’ winners, including 99 Group One wins – the most recent being Captured By Love winning the Group One NZ 1000 Guineas in November at Riccarton.
Te Akau has won 15 training premiership titles, including four in Singapore, and last season established a new, state of the art operation at the first-class facilities in Cranbourne (Victoria).
Te Akau set a benchmark 203 domestic wins in 2022/23, surpassing its previous national record (160) in 2020/21, and last season trainers Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson established the second highest national tally ever with 169 wins.
David Ellis is quick to acknowledge that this immense honour is very much shared with the people around him. Te Akau’s proud history of the world class administrative and horse people, whose dedication, skill and talent has seen the business flourish.
Top of the ladder is trainer and business partner Mark Walker, who this season recorded his 2000th career win, while former apprentice and stable rider Opie Bosson ONZM recently rode his 99th Group One winner.
Another vital team member is Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM, whose key role is managing the day-to-day business and strategic matters and in particular bringing together the many scopes of te Akau’s hugely successful syndication operation.
“There are so many people who, without them, Te Akau could never have achieved what it has,” says Ellis.
Te Akau currently employs approximately 100 people and in the past has provided apprentices, trainers, stable-hands, office personnel, even school children, all with a platform from which to develop their skills. For David Ellis, the development of young talent has always been a priority as he guides the through an industry career path.
Among the best champion racehorses that Ellis has purchased and Te Akau has trained, Melody Belle, a dual Horse of the Year, NZ record holder of 14 Group One wins, and Hall of Fame inductee, leads the way.
Purchased for $57,500 as a yearling at Karaka, Melody Belle became the first of seven consecutive $1 million Karaka Million 2YO winners purchased by Ellis, was named Champion Two-Year-Old, equalled the domestic Group One record (13) of mighty mare Sunline when winning the Group One Thorndon Mile and set a new mark (14) when winning the Group One Bonecrusher NZ Stakes in 2021.
She retired the winner of 14 Group One races (19 from 41 in total) and $4.3 million in prize money, before selling as a broodmare for $2.6 million.
The most recent stable star has been Imperatriz, reigning NZ Horse of the Year and Champion Sprinter in Australia. Bought for A$360,000 by Ellis at the 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Imperatriz was owned by Te Akau Invincible Empress Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).
Retired and sold in June this year for A$6.6 million, becoming the highest priced filly or mare ever sold in the Southern Hemisphere, Imperatriz recorded 10 Group One wins, from 1000m – 1600m, among 19 victories from 27 starts, and nearly NZ$7.6 million in prize money.
But it certainly does not end there. Ellis also purchased Probabeel for $380,000 as a yearling at Karaka. Owned by Brendan Lindsay MNZM & Jo Lindsay (Cambridge Stud), she is the only horse to claim the Karaka Million 2YO and Karaka Million 3YO Classic double.
Like Melody Belle, she too was a dual Horse of the Year, winning 13 of 29 starts, including four Group One wins in Australia, placed eight times, and topped NZ$4.6 million prize money.
There are so many other champion horses that have been identified by, and purchased through, the expert eye of David Ellis.
Champion Two-Year-Old Avantage, remains the highest (9) ever Group One winner for her Champion Sire Fastnet Rock. Ellis purchased her for $210,000 at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale. She recorded 16 wins from 28 starts, amassed $2.1 million prize money for Te Akau Avantage Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM) and created a global online sales record when selling for $4.1 million.
In January this year, Ellis purchased her first foal for $2.1 million at the 2024 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, out of the Coolmore draft, and named Avantaggia (Wootton Bassett) she is in the jump out and trials’ stage in the stable at Matamata.
Holding a special place in the hearts of Ellis and Mark Walker, Darci Brahma was purchased for $1.1 million as a yearling at Karaka. The winner of five Group One races trans-Tasman, he went on to be named Champion Two-Year-Old, Champion Three-Year-Old and Champion Sprinter/Miler as a Four -Year-Old. He went on to become a multiple Champion Sire, and remains a dominant player in the pedigrees of NZ-bred thoroughbreds.
Horses Ellis has purchased that have stood at stud include Darci Brahma, King’s Chapel, Rock ‘n’ Pop, Minstrel Court, Saperavi, Burgundy, Cool Aza Beel, Xtravagant, Embellish, Heroic Valour, Noverre, and Sword of State.
Te Akau has won 79 titles at the New Zealand Horses of the Year awards, headed by 11 Champion Two-Year-Olds, eight NZB Filly of the Year, seven Horse of the Year, as well as the NZTR Outstanding Contribution to Racing Award; NZTR Media Award; NZTR Contribution to Media, Digital & Content, Award, and NZTR Owner of the Year, while this year Imperatriz became the first horse to win the NZTR Outstanding Global Achievement Award.
Ellis is a great ambassador for New Zealand bred horses, and its people, and is deeply committed to supporting and promoting the industry, including through sponsorship and advocacy.
He has dedicated years of his life to voluntary leadership roles within the industry, especially through racing industry administration.
He started as a steward for the Waikato racing Club, and developed from there to cover every spectrum of leadership through to national level. His roles included Chairman of the Waikato racing Club for which he is a Life Member; Chairman of the Waikato District Committee, and he served on the Boards of the New Zealand Racing Conference, then NZ Thoroughbred Racing, and also NZ Thoroughbred Marketing.
For his own dedication and vision, Ellis was rewarded with the Gallagher Agriculture and Primary Production Award in 2010, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Outstanding Contribution to Racing Excellence in 2017, and was appointed as Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Royal Honours’ List.
The New Zealand racing industry has benefited greatly by having David Ellis CNZM involved and dedicated to its progress and well-being – he deserves his place in the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame, alongside other leading contributors and performers, an honour which he is humbled to have been accorded.
