Waller weekly news 19 October 2017 Star Thoroughbreds mare Invincibella gave her owners a thrill on Saturday when winning on the big stage at Royal Randwick in front of over 30,000 racegoers who attended on the day. Racing NSW and the ATC executed their bold The Everest initiative brilliantly and it was great to see so many people enjoying the occasion on track. Joining Invincibella in returning home winners this week were Best Guess, Unforgotten and I Am Serious from Canterbury yesterday while Smooth Whiskey broke through in fine fashion at Wyong late last week. Winx s build up to her third Cox Plate continues to go well, having a hit out at Moonee Valley Moonee Valley on Tuesday. She is likely to return there for Breakfast With The Stars this Tuesday while this Saturday we have plenty to look forward to with Group One racing and big teams at Randwick, Caulfield and Doomben plus runners at the Gold Coast, Beaudesert and Newcastle. We wish all of our connections the best of luck and a safe weekend! INSIDE THIS ISSUE WINNERs News & photos www.cwallerracing.com admin@cwallerracing.com +612 9760 5700
l CHRIS WALLER RACING - WINNERS THIS WEEK INVINCIBELLA 4yo M I Am Invincible - Abscond by Galileo This talented mare made it back to back city wins when scoring at Randwick on Saturday over 1600m. Tim Clark took the mount and he gave the Star Thoroughbreds mare a dream run just behind the speed early on in fourth position. She travelled strongly and as they turned into the straight Clark made his move towards the centre of the track and this talented daughter of I Am Invincible hit the front inside the final furlong and kept going strongly for a gutsy success. UNFORGOTTEN 3yo F Fastnet Rock - Memories Of You by Galileo This daughter of the great sire Fastnet Rock broke through for a maiden win at Canterbury on Wednesday over 1250m. Having shown plenty of promise previously she has clearly benefitted from a brief spell and returned in fine form on Wednesday under Brenton Avdulla. Avdulla settled her at the tail of the five runner field early on and she was still last on the turn in the tightly bunched field. Once they straightened, Avdulla angled her towards the outside of the leaders and she let down strongly to career away for a highly impressive success. She is owned by a bunch of loyal stable supporters with Chris retaining a share himself with the filly bought by Guy Mulcaster at Karaka in 2016. BEST GUESS 4yo G Snippetson - Miss Judge by Al Maher This gelded son of Snippetson is another one putting together an enviable record and he made it three wins from seven starts when scoring at Canterbury on Wednesday over 1100m. Lee Magorrian took the mount and showed why he is great value for his 3kg claim in town. He gave Best Guess a lovely run in transit just shy of midfield before making his move towards the outside of the leaders into the straight where Best Guess let down strongly for an impressive victory. Thanks to Bradley Photographers, Ross Stevenson and darryl sherer for our weekly photos. www.bradleyphotos.com.au
l I AM SERIOUS 4yo M Choisir - But I m Serious by Bianconi This talented daughter of Choisir made it 4 wins from just six starts when winning at Canterbury on Wednesday over 1550m under Blake Shinn. Having joined the stable after a couple of impressive country wins for part owner and her former trainer Bob Haire. I Am Serious had been placed at her first two starts in town and made no mistake on Wednesday as she travelled strongly just behind the speed before Shinn produced her inside the final furlong to score a gutsy success with stablemate Shield Wall running well in third position. SMOOTH WHISKEY 4yo G Snitzel - Lady Annaliese by Groom Dancer This well bred son of the great Snitzel had been placed on plenty of occasions and finally broke through for an all-important maiden victory at Wyong on Thursday over 1350m under Blake Shinn. Shinn never really had an anxious moment on the short priced favourite. He travelled strongly in fourth position early on before ambling up to the leaders on the home turn with her jockey yet to move a muscle. Once Shinn slipped him a bit of rein he put the race to bed in a matter of strides and coasted to the line for a three length victory which will no doubt do his confidence the world of good and hopefully he can now build on this win. video preview Click on the image to the left to watch this week s video update with plenty of valuable insights into our runners this weekend from Charlie and Chris. WINX MANIA! Even the barrier boys in New Zealand are now sporting WINX caps!
13 th October 2017 Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale 30 th October 2017 Our annual sojourn to England is fast approaching where we will secure another group of tried horses from the Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale. This year marks our 10 th year of traveling to the northern hemisphere and we have achieved more success than I ever expected during this time. Our team are currently in the United Kingdom making preparations for the sale and I am eagerly awaiting the sale as I look to add some depth and quality to our already strong middle distance and staying ranks here in Australia. This year will be no different to the previous as we identify horses that can perform in Saturday class racing in Australia. History has proven that a number of these continue to improve and go through to Group level racing but my recommendation to all of those looking to invest this year is the same as every other and that is to ensure you spread some risk within the confines of your budget. This will give you the best chance of achieving success and by spreading your shares around a number of horses you will enjoy more racing and more winners. The benefit of having a base at the Gold Coast and Flemington outside of our primary stable at Rosehill means we can take advantage of the varying races available for these horses and ensure each individuals earning capacity is met. Prizemoney in NSW and Victoria in particular is extremely strong and as we continue to see, the depth of these races is somewhat lower than is seen over the sprinting trips. Given the demand for shares is high we will ensure everyone is accommodated, however we do require a commitment from you prior to the sale commencing. To secure your investment in our 2017 imports, please call 02 9760 5700 or email liam@cwallerracing.com prior to October 25 th and let us know what level of investment you would like to make. We will contact interested parties closer to the time with our strategy ahead of the sale and then look forward to putting together the partnerships to race thereafter. As always, we will always to do what we can to cater for your preferences. Yours Sincerely, Chris Waller Chris Waller Racing Pty Ltd Ph: 02 9760 5700 Fax: 02 9682 6603 PO Box 3069, North Parramatta, NSW 1750 Australia
CHARLIE AND THE WALLER FACTORY On a typical morning, Charlie Duckworth leaves home at 3.30am and arrives at Chris Waller Racing at Rosehill at 4am. On the way, he ll ring the foreman to check all the staff are there or if there are issues with any horses he needs to know about. He ll then meet with Chris Waller and between 4am and 8am observe trackwork and also set up the following day s work list. A massive part of the day is preparing all the horses work and I try to aid Chris as much as I can, he said. It sounds a little boring but we have our individual check lists because with so many horses you have to be so thorough. During the morning a number of alarms go off on Duckworth s phone. The 7.15am alarm is to remind him to deal with scratchings, at 8.45am it s any acceptances then the 10.30am alarm to take care of nominations. It means you know exactly what you re doing, Duckworth said. If Chris or I or the foreman didn t turn up, theoretically, the system is designed so that it should still run smoothly throughout the morning. This is a rare insight into what it s like being the right hand man to Australia s leading racehorse trainer. And it s why Charlie Duckworth describes being Waller s racing manager for the last 18 months as his dream job. Four years ago in the UK, Duckworth wrote an email to Chris Waller asking for a job. He was working for Ralph Beckett in Hampshire and had aspirations to be a trainer but felt he wasn t going anywhere fast. Soon after sending that email he applied for the Alex Scott Assistant Trainer s Scholarship a prize of 3000 sterling aimed at sending aspiring trainers abroad to further their careers and won. I thought I had to start somewhere in Australia, I didn t really know where, he said. I was only leaving England because I couldn t see a better job than the one I had. He negotiated an arrangement with Waller to be more than just a trackwork rider, to work in the office a couple of days a week and attend the occasional race meeting. It was originally a three to six month internship then Waller entrusted Duckworth to travel to the UK with his star colt Zoustar and prepare him to race at Royal Ascot. Unfortunately he went amiss and it wasn t an easy thing to be ringing your boss, who you don t know that well, to tell them their first Royal Ascot runner was going to be retired to stud, Duckworth said. It was one of the defining moments for me wanting to stay with Chris and one of the main reasons I m still here. While I was over there Chris offered me sponsorship and I got my 457 (visa) and came back to Australia. Everyone can see Waller runs a very tight ship. Exactly how regimented things are was something that Duckworth found "mind-boggling when he first arrived but has learned the value of leaving no stone unturned when you re dealing with a big team of horses and 100 workers. As a comparison, his former boss Ralph Beckett had a team of 105 horses. Chris has a high expectation of what he wants from his horses and his staff and you just have to keep lifting your game
and make sure you meet those standards, he said. He ll ask me to do something and will not expect to ever ask for it again. If he says can you stick a set of blinkers on this or nominate this horse for a race then I ll write it down, even if I m going to do it that second. If I get distracted I can go back to my pad of paper. He s a hard boss but he s very fair. I m sure there a plenty of people that are envious of my role and I d probably say I have one of the best jobs in racing in Australia. I m incredibly privileged to be where I am. Of course part of that privilege is not only watching the Winx story unfold in front of him but being in the inner sanctum. As an aspiring trainer Duckworth, 28, knows he can t stay under the Chris Waller banner forever and the day will come when he decides to go out on his own. He s adamant when that day comes he will stay in Australia to train the prizemoney on offer is much more conducive to "start up training businesses than in the UK. The problem is I came over here thinking I ll work for Chris Waller and be on the sidelines a bit, learn as much as I can and maybe six months later I d go work for Gai, or Darren Weir, Duckworth said. I ve been fortunate enough to take every opportunity Chris has given me. It makes the step to move away so much harder. I have the dream job so it s hard to say I m going to turn down my weekly wage and set up by myself out in the sticks somewhere and make a go of it. I think I ll be with Chris for a while longer yet. - Racingnsw.com.au
Foxplay ready to soar after Winx effect Super mare Winx not only leaves her rivals in her wake, she also leaves them feeling flat. Trainer Chris Waller has seen first hand what the champion mare can do to her rivals. He says it can take horses weeks to get over races when pitted against Winx who has strung together 21 consecutive wins. The best example was last year, Waller said. We had two really good colts in Press Statement and Kermadec. They were good Group I horses in the peak of their careers. It was the George Ryder Stakes and they ran second and third behind Winx. They ran good races and gave her a challenge, but they were buggered for a week. Pat Webster with Happy Clapper said he knew he d had a race (George Main) but fortunately he bounced back to win the Epsom. The Waller-trained Group I Foxplay was another to feel the effects of getting run down by the champion who lives in the next door stall. Foxplay almost caused an upset until Winx grabbed her in the final few strides when the two mares met first-up in the Warwick Stakes in August. It was another four weeks before Foxplay made it back to the races. For the first week after the run she left a bit of feed at night, Waller said. She did very light work for two weeks which meant she maintained her weight but she couldn t have raced for at least three weeks. She was ready to race three weeks later but she had top weight against the boys so we decided to wait four weeks which was good. It definitely took it out of her. Foxplay has had two runs since, finishing third to Winx in the George Main Stakes and then fourth in the Epsom Handicap. Waller said she came out of those races in much better condition. Foxplay has made her way to Melbourne and runs on Saturday in the Group II Tristarc Stakes at Caulfield as a lead-in to the Group I Myer Stakes at Flemington on November 4. She s travelled down well so we re hoping she can get back on the board, Waller said. - AAP
Fastnet Winner for Waller Tara Madgwick - Wednesday, 18 October 2017 The only filly in the 1250 metre three year-old maiden at Canterbury on Wednesday was Fastnet Rock filly Unforgotten, who made light work of beating her male rivals at her first run back from a break. Last seen finishing second to subsequent Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes winner Ace High at Kembla in July, Unforgotten settled at the rear for Brenton Avdulla and powered home out wide to run straight past the colts and post an easy two and a half length win. It was an impressive return for a filly that was snapped up in New Zealand by her trainer Chris Waller, who secured her for $360,000 at the NZB Premier Sale from the Curraghmore Stud draft, the same draft that also produced last Saturday' Caulfield Guineas hero Mighty Boss (also foaled and raised at Coolmore). "She's a very nice filly with some good owners including Noel Greenhalgh in whose colours she runs," said Chris Waller. "It's been a real team effort to get her here as we sent her to spell up in Queensland and the Brisbane stable have done all the work with her. "They didn't want her to leave, but she was ready to come back. "If she had been back a little earlier she could have been running in some of these nice fillies races, but the timing was just not quite there. "She's got the right pedigree being by Fastnet Rock from a daughter of Galileo, so she still might make it to Melbourne for Cup week." Foaled and raised at Coolmore, Unforgotten is a sister to stakes-placed Special Memories and is the third winner from Memories of You (IRE), a half-sister by Galileo to dual Group I winner Matiara from an impressive European Black Type family. Memories of You has foaled this spring at Coolmore producing a colt by Scat Daddy's brilliant Group I winning son No Nay Never (USA). - Breednet.com.au
CHRIS WALLER PUTS WINX IN THE MIX FOR THE JAPAN CUP Trainer Chris Waller has left the door ajar for the dynamic mare Winx to race abroad before the year is out, nominating her for the Japan Cup (2400m) at Tokyo racecourse on November 26. Worth overall prizemoney of $7.36 million, with the winner to receive $3.5m, Winx would also be eligible for a $2.5m bonus if she could complete the Cox Plate-Japan Cup double. Better Loosen Up (1990), trained by David Hayes, is the only Australian winner of the Japan Cup. New Zealander Horlicks (1989) is the only mare from the Oceania region to have won. Hugh Bowman, the jockey who has been Winx s regular rider for all but two of her 21 successive victories, is contracted to ride in Japan from November 18 until December 24. Bowman was at Moonee Valley yesterday, with Winx venturing across from Flemington for a maintenance gallop. It was her first look at the Valley since winning her second Cox Plate last year. Winx strode out over 1200m, quickening through her last 400m. Waller said Winx had a leisurely hitout at Flemington on the weekend. It was pretty typical work for her. She will work again at the end of the week, one short, sharp gallop next week and then back off the last four days before the Cox Plate, Waller said. Surprisingly, each of her runs this preparation, she s pulled up really well. She s had some tough runs in Sydney, just by the way the races have been run. At Flemington, the Turnbull was a good performance and, most importantly, seeing her recovering well was good from a longevity perspective. That is what we re looking at now. She comes first. Bowman is very much at ease with the manner in which Winx is applying herself as she looms to join Kingston Town as the only three-time winners of the Cox Plate. She was happy to be back, she enjoyed the workout as did I, Bowman said. There s no doubt she enjoys this surface. Though, to be fair, she s been at her peak both times she s run here, because it has been her main target. The Strathayr has a little bit more cushion than other tracks, even when it isn t watered. I d say that has got a lot to do with it, he said. She s very good on her feet and she likes to go through her gears on the corner, particularly going this (the Melbourne) way. The rivals for Winx for the Cox Plate on October 28 are taking shape. Epsom Handicap winner Happy Clapper (Blake Shinn), Gailo Chop (Mark Zahra) and Royal Symphony are aiming at the race.- The Australian WINX and regular work rider Ben Cadden in Melbourne.
WINX VISITS MOONEE VALLEY Winx visited Moonee Valley for the first time since last year s Cox Plate to gallop on Tuesday morning. Hugh Bowman was aboard Winx over 1200m and trainer Chris Waller told the Moonee Valley Race Club it was a maintenance gallop. It s three weeks between runs (to the Cox Plate) and she s very fit well into her preparation, Waller said. She had a quiet gallop at Flemington on Saturday and a slightly stronger gallop this morning over 1200m and a stronger last 400m but that s pretty typical work for her. She ll do a bit more work at the end of the week and then one short, sharp gallop next week and then we ll back off her until the Ladbrokes Cox Plate. Winx made it 21 consecutive wins with her 6-1/2 length win in the Turnbull Stakes over 2000m at Flemington on October 7 and Waller said the six-year-old has come through the race in excellent shape. She s pulled up really well from each of her runs this preparation and from the Turnbull it was most important to see her recover well. I think from a longevity perspective that s what we are looking at now, Waller said. She comes first and making sure she is right. Bowman said he enjoyed the work as much as the mare. She enjoyed it and so did I, Bowman said. She s been at her peak the both times she s raced here as its been her main target. There s no doubt she enjoys the surface - there s a little bit more cushion than a lot of other tracks and I d say that s got a lot to do with it. She s very good on her feet so she likes to go through her gears on the corner, particularly going this way. - Racenet. com.au
WINX V ENABLE? A PROMOTER S DREAM SAYS MIGHTY MARE S TRAINER Connections of Winx, the Wonder Woman of Australian racing, have given the strongest indication yet that the mighty mare could be campaigned in Europe next year, with trainer Chris Waller describing the prospect of a clash with Britain's superstar filly Enable as a "promoter's dream". While stressing that any trip to Britain is far from a done deal, Waller told the Racing Post there would be a "serious discussion" after next weekend's Cox Plate, while owner Peter Tighe said Royal Ascot was "definitely" on the table for Winx. European racecourses, headed by Royal Ascot and York, have made no secret of their desire to attract the world's toprated turf performer in 2018. First, though, the massively popular six-year-old will bid to extend her winning sequence to 22 by completing a hat-trick in the Cox Plate, Australasia's premier weight-for-age contest, at Moonee Valley in Melbourne on Saturday week. Sydney-based Waller is well aware of the clamour to see Winx outside Australia and also the impression left by Enable during her three-year-old Arc-winning campaign. "I've heard the talk of matching her with Enable and there are other great horses in Europe to respect," said Waller. "We must get the Cox Plate out of the way first but based on a good performance there will be a serious discussion between me and the owners to do everything we can to get her to Europe," he added. "Then we'd work out what races we might run in, whether we can campaign her three or four races, showing off what we do in Australia by perhaps starting her off over 1,200 [6f] or 1,400 metres [7f] and building her all the way through to 2,000 metres [1m2f] and maybe Considering a meeting with Enable, Waller even mused over a possible home-and-away leg, saying: Maybe it could be done in a place such as Dubai but we don t want to be the party letting everybody down and I do respect racing in Europe, so it might be the most logical place unless we put Enable and three or four other top-liners and have a marketing guru prepared to fund the transport to Australia for them! Maybe we could take them on in Australia and do a return bout in Europe? Who knows? It s a promoter s dream but I know it s a little more challenging than the staging the perfect boxing or Ashes match or a Lions tour. However, the trainer also introduced a serious note of caution. The horse only deserves to be going to Europe if she s at her best, Waller explained. It s not fair to take a horse in the twilight of her career to let everybody down and I d feel for the horse if she didn t turn up in Europe and show everybody the superstar that she is. Travelling horses is a lot harder than the average person would think; I can t start to go through the endless amount of challenges. The fact is they go out of their season to a completely different season. If we take her out of her own hemisphere her body will be a little confused and what percentage will this take its toll at? If it s five per cent, I could live with that; if it s ten per cent, then it starts to affect performance. Winx carries the colours of the Tighe s husband-and-wife ownership vehicle Magic Bloodstock, who own her in partnership with two others. Speaking of any potential trip to Europe, Peter Tighe said: It s definitely on the cards as long as she gets through her Cox Plate preparation unscathed. Then we d put her out for a spell and put some plans in for next year s racing, probably a warm-up in Sydney and if she s in fine fettle, we d be looking at a couple of races over there at the Ascot carnival. That s what we d like to do we d love to come over there and see you guys. - Racingpost.com
upcoming STABLE RUNNERS Click here to go to the website for more information on our stable runners. RECENTLY NAMED HORSES Name Home Scene Orcein Zousain Breeding Exceed and Excel - Fragmentation colt Snitzel - Zapurple colt Zoustar - Pasar Silbano colt The SNITZEL colt from stakes-winning ZABEEL mare ZAPURPLE was purchased by Mulcaster Bloodstock for the Harras Syndicate at Magic Millions earlier this year for $360,000 and is now named Orcein. What does it mean? Orcein, or purple moss, was a common purple dye through the middle ages. It was known to the ancient Greeks and Hebrews, and was made from a Mediterranean lichen called archil or dyer s moss.
Invincibella celebrations. Best Guess and Warren. Thanks to Bradley Photographers, Ross Stevenson and darryl sherer for our weekly photos. www.bradleyphotos.com.au
Smooth Whiskey celebrations. Malmas. Regal Monarch.
Raj and Atlantic Fox. Waiheke. Plenty.
Jacko and Zumbelina. Ash and Ombudsman. Bruno and Ordos Honor returning to Rosehill.