Chris Waller declares Soulcombe set for ‘something special’ in Caulfield Cup
Chris Waller has three of the top seven horses in the Caulfield Cup market and one of them has a “special performance coming”.
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Champion trainer Chris Waller has declared Soulcombe “the right horse in the right race” going into Saturday’s $5m Group 1 Caulfield Cup.
Waller, who has won two of the past three Caulfield Cups with Verry Elleegant (2020) and Durston (2022), lauded Soulcombe’s work and overall willingness building up to the first spring major.
Soulcombe, a Melbourne Cup aspirant also, is $5 equal favourite with TAB for the Caulfield Cup.
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“I think he’ll give them both (Cups) a good shake, two miles (3200m) is actually an extreme test, we’re not really sure until under race pressure how they cope with the two miles,” Waller said.
“Every indication it shouldn’t be a problem, 2400m he loves, so we should be starting to see something pretty special on Saturday.
“To my eye it looked like he really wanted to charge to the line … it’s a lot more intense raceday, but he was really letting go on his action and last year he wasn’t such a willing horse, now his whole attitude has changed.
“He had some really good performances last year but to see now what he’s doing in his work suggests to me there’s a special performance coming.”
Richmond stars Jack Riewoldt, Tom Lynch and Jayden Short watch their star galloper Soulcombe at trackwork this morning ahead of Saturday’s Caulfield Cup
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Waller has three of the top seven horses in the all-in Caulfield Cup market, including Montefilia ($11) and Francesco Guardi ($13).
Soulcombe and Francesco Guardi worked stylishly together at Caulfield on Tuesday morning.
“On work this morning, without seeing Montefilia work, Soulcombe is going to be very hard to beat,” Waller said.
“All three are decent horses and deserve to be there, no surprises if any of the three got up.”
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Craig Williams has the ride on Soulcombe in the Caulfield Cup, with James McDonald (Francesco Guardi) and Nash Rawiller (Montefilia) to ride the other Waller runners.
Last start Hill Stakes winner Montefilia, formerly trained by David Payne, has placed fourth in the past two Caulfield Cups.
“I think the booking of Nash Rawiller is a pretty good guide,” Waller said.
“Nash is all for her running in the race, and ultimately making the sacrifice in weight (54.5kg) to be able to ride it on Saturday.”
AFL premiership stars Jack Riewoldt, Tom Lynch and Jayden Short, who own a small share in Soulcombe along with Jack Graham, Nathan Broad and Liam Baker, were in awe of their horse on Tuesday.
“They were amazed by the speed they go and the thunder of the hoofs as they go past,” Waller said.
“They were up close and personal as we would be at a footy training I suppose, we’d be blown away by the intensity and the skill they have.
“I think that’s the beauty of horse racing, it brings a lot of people and sports together and it’s great to be able to do that at the right time of year, the spring carnival.
“I said to them ‘they’ll be pretty happy on Saturday, they’ve got the right horse in the right race’.”
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Soulcombe emerged as a future Cups candidate last year winning the Group 3 Queen’s Cup (2600m) at Flemington on Champions Day.
A lacklustre Sydney autumn preparation has all but been forgotten with four slick runs in Melbourne, including the Listed Heatherlie Stakes.
Soulcombe has stepped slowly from the gates the past two starts and rattled into third and fourth respectively over 2000m and 1800m.
“We won’t change too much with the barrier, over 2400m it’s probably not quite as important,” Waller said.
“Of course we’d like to see him jump with them but naturally he’ll be half a length slow, but that’s him. If you try changing a horse I think there can be other problems, he is what he is, he likes to do that, keep him happy, keep him comfortable, that’s the key to staying 2400m.
“He’s been very strong in all his lead up races so good to see him getting out to the Caulfield Cup distance.”
Fangirl takes the King Charles III Stakes (G1)! pic.twitter.com/AeAAC17khB
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Waller confirmed his star four-year-old Kovalica, who ran a slashing fifth in the King Charles III Stakes, would most likely skip the Cox Plate and run in the $10m Golden Eagle on November 4.
Admitting it was a 50-50 call, Waller believed the Golden Eagle was a slightly easier assignment, which is on his home track at Rosehill, for a horse still maturing.
“Not that we don’t think he’s a Cox Plate horse at all ... he’s running for a $10m purse in Sydney. He just needs to draw a barrier,” he said.
“In an ideal world, he’ll be back next year in Melbourne running in a Cox Plate.”
His multiple Group 1-winning three-year-old Militarize, “provided he gets around the track well on Tuesday”, and Fangirl are both heading towards the Cox Plate.
Originally published as Chris Waller declares Soulcombe set for ‘something special’ in Caulfield Cup
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