Maryweka Travels to Wingatui 23rd May 2024

Maryweka is set to go racing tomorrow.

Today – Thursday 23rd May, she travelled down to Wingatui and was the ‘perfect traveller’.

After racing in a field of 14 horses in her last start, tomorrow she will be one of five runners – horse #5 and barrier draw 5. It will be interesting to see what unfolds tomorrow. She has had to travel and Kith ‘n’ Kin might be hard to beat. We will need a bit of luck. We get weight relief from our young apprentice rider Denby Rose Tait who has ridden her during training, which is a help. She has travelled well and is about to go out for a nice long walk before dinner. Let’s hope she is in a competitive frame of mind when she goes racing tomorrow. Good Luck everyone. Goooo Maryweka!!!

How is Bonnie doing? Bonum!

Bonnie is Good to have around, she has settled in well at Terri Rae’s stable and after working out with her big sister Maryweka last week, this week she showed a newbie to the stable how to behave professionally whilst working out at the Riccarton Track.  I think you will enjoy the latest updates from Terri from Saturday morning’s workout in the frost to today’s morning workout in the rain – nothing seems to faze her and she has taken everything in her stride.  Way to go Bonnieweka! 

Bonnieweka May 18th – 21st May 2024

Maryweka Set to Go Racing On Friday at Wingatui

Maryweka has been working well since her last race at Riccarton on the 4th of May. Terri has nominated her for a 1200m race at Wingatui on Friday May the 24th.

At the time of writing the Wingatui track was a soft 5 and it was an overcast day. The Weather forecast for the next few days doesn’t seem too bad, so here is hoping it will hold out for Friday’s raceday.

Today in the Wairarapa we had heavy rains and it was cold, so we spent a good part of the day indoors, as did Maryweka, who spent a nice relaxing day in her box at Riccarton after her morning workout. Terri is looking forward to racing Maryweka on the grass at Wingatui on Friday. Below we hear from our wonderful trainer Terri Rae and get a little view of our Mary all rugged up, worked and fed and ready for a chill out day.

Nominated for the Dunedin City Motors 75 1200m- there are only 7 nominations at close of day today. More news before the races on Friday

Terri Rae has a yarn about Maryweka seen here relaxing in her box at Riccarton today 21/5/24

Maryweka works out with her little sister 14th May 2024

It is kind of cool to see these two working out together at Riccarton. As Terri said, “Mary was doing a little bit of babysitting”. Both of the fillies are working well, with Bonnie continuing on with her strength and conditioning training and Mary working well after her recent race at Riccarton and prepping for her next start.

Depending on how things go, there is a possibility of a race for Maryweka at Wingatui on the 24th of May. Terri said Mary has held her condition well after the race and she will make a decision closer to the time, dependent on Mary’s work between now and then. She is keen to try her on a grass track rather than the turf, so here is hoping the weather holds and it all comes to plan.

Bonnieweka Has Her First Swim – 7/5/24

Bonnieweka has settled in well at Terri’s place and this morning she took to the pool for the first time. They don’t have to be in the water too long to get a great workout on a brilliantly find and cold Autumn morning.

Maryweka Post Race Report Saturday May 4th 2024

Maryweka had a good hit out today and went to the line nicely despite the wide draw in a big field and being held up for a run. Trainer Terri Rae gives us a brief post race report and we hear from Weka Racing Manager Les Wallace with his take on the race. Maryweka after being held up was almost last and made up a lot of ground running to the line – it was good to see her finish well. She will have a day or two off before resuming this campaign. More news soon folks

Maryweka Ready to Go – Race 2 at Riccarton 4/5/24

Maryweka has had a good preparation for her 2024 race campaign in Race 2 at 12.05pm at Riccarton. Jumping from barrier draw 14 in a field of 15 runners is not ideal, however when it comes to barrier draws,we have to work with the hand we have been dealt. However we have better luck in the jockey stakes with Lisa Allpress on board. Jockey Lisa Allpress has had had two wins and two seconds riding Maryweka previously so thanks to her for accepting the ride and Good Luck. Lisa and our trainer have a great working relationship and we are delighted to have Lisa on board – it is great for the Wekas despite the draw. Terri is looking forward to putting Mary over a bit more ground and this race will be a great starting point. We are all looking forward to the races tomorrow – Good Luck to all of us

Pre-race update Friday 3rd May 2024 – Maryweka

Bonnieweka Joins the Team at Terri Rae’s Stable – 22/4/24

Bonnieweka arrived at Terri Rae’s Riccarton stables on Monday 22nd April and was straight onto the track the next day, working alongside two other 2yo’s. Terri said she had a good grounding with Luke and Emma and her first day at the track went very smoothly. “Bonnie is very much in the mould of her sisters – Maryweka is due to go racing soon. The first part of Bonnie’s training and education has taken time but she is now very familiar with the process and what her job is. The next step is to graduate to a trial to familiarise her with racing performance. No doubt her very patient trainer Terri Rae will step her up when she is ready, in the meantime these updates are great to have.

Terri says “She is a pretty little thing”, so perhaps she has been aptly named Bonnie……

Bonnie is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word “bonnie” (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That is in turn derived from the Latin word “bonus” (good). The name can also be used as a pet form of Bonita.

Bonnieweka update 15th April 2024

Bonnieweka is going very well. She is still working at Foothills with Emma and Luke Wyatt and they are very pleased with Bonnie’s progress, making sure she has every experience possible so that nothing fazes her. When she hits the race track she will be able to focus on doing the job in a professional manner without taking in a whole lot of new and ‘strange’ experiences, it will all be just what she is used to. Luke said it is his job to make sure she is confident with everything she does and that she will be super professional when it comes to the track and race day experience. In consultation with Terri and the Wyatts, it was decided to extend her stay at Foothills until she was fully ready to travel to Terri’s. Once she gets there Terri will fit her into the stable routine and make some decisions about her going forward.

Here is a video update of Bonnie working around the course proper at the Ashburton track for the first time by herself. She worked nicely just like an old campaigner who had done it all before.

Bonnieweka working out at the Ashburton Track Friday 12th April 2024

Maryweka update 12th April 2024 – possibility of racing soon

If all the ducks are lined up in a row, there is a very small chance that Maryweka may race this coming Saturday; however our trainer Terri Rae will not be taking any chances with Mary; “The fields are quite strong at the moment, but we will see how she goes during the week and make a final decision closer to the time.” Maryweka is pictured here on Friday about to set out to work on the plough. Terri said whenever it rains the plough is out of action so working on the plough revolves around the weather and Mary’s training programme. We will see what evolves over the next few days and dependent on Mary’s progress a race for her could be imminent.