Chris Waller believes this is Nature Strip’s best chance to claim The Everest
Super sprinter Nature Strip is on track for Everest redemption and is set to take another significant step in The Shorts on Saturday.
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Trainer Chris Waller concedes Sydney’s super sprinter Nature Strip won’t get a better opportunity to win the $15m The TAB Everest than this spring carnival.
“This is Nature Strip’s best chance to win The Everest,’’ Waller said.
“He is in close to career-best form and racing so tractably now.
“It is certainly good to think we are going to The Everest this far out with a horse that is on song.’’
Nature Strip has been selected for the fourth successive year to contest The Everest, run at Royal Randwick on October 16 – but the reigning Horse of the Year has yet to even place in the world’s richest turf race.
He ran seventh behind Classique Legend last year and fourth to Yes Yes Yes in 2019.
The gelding was withdrawn from the big race in 2018 after a disappointing lead-up run.
Nature Strip takes another significant step towards The Everest when he contests the Group 2 $500,000 The Shorts (1100m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
The Shorts is shaping as a “mini-Everest” with six of the seven selected sprinters lining up in the race – Nature Strip, Masked Crusader, Eduardo, Gytrash, Rothfire and Lost And Running.
Nature Strip goes into Saturday’s sprint after a brilliant first-up win in the Concorde Stakes earlier this month.
Although the big chestnut is now a seven-year-old and a veteran of 31 starts (17 wins), he showed his usual dazzling speed and trademark enthusiasm for racing in his new season return.
The result of The Shorts will either endorse or reshape existing Everest betting where Nature Strip has been favourite at $4.50 with TAB fixed odds since winning the TJ Smith Stakes earlier this year.
“With six Everest runners in The Shorts, this is a very important lead-up race to The Everest,’’ TAB’s Andrew Georgiou said.
“Most of these won’t run again before The Everest so the result of The Shorts will have a huge impact on the market.
“Nature Strip has been The Everest favourite for some months but he needs to win The Shorts or run very well to stay at the top of the market. There has also been good support for Masked Crusader and Rothfire for The Everest.’’
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The Shorts betting reflects The Everest market trends with Nature Strip early favourite for Saturday’s sprint at $2.30 ahead of Masked Crusader at $4.60 with Rothfire firming from $8 into $5 for his comeback run after injury.
“There has been good money for Rothfire in The Shorts but Nature Strip will start favourite, he’s always a popular horse with punters,’’ Georgiou said.
In fact, Nature Strip has been race favourite in 25 of his 31 career starts – but he’s not always the “punters pal”.
It’s a telling statistic that Nature Strip has been a beaten favourite in 10 races including five when he was odds-on.
He has lost two races when he started at prohibitive odds of $1.45.
But Waller believes Nature Strip is a more complete, settled racehorse now and can remain at this level for a good while yet.
“We are preserving him as he has another 18 months of good racing left,’’ Waller said.
“He won’t be over raced and we will place him in the right races.’’
Nature Strip is one of three horses racing at Royal Randwick on Saturday that are currently in the Australian top 20 all-time prizemoney earners – and all are trained by Waller.
They are the Waller-trained duo Verry Elleegant (ranked ninth with $8,685,744) and Kolding (20th, $6,397,450) who clash in the $1m George Main Stakes (1600m) and their stablemate Nature Strip (11th, $8,110,685) in The Shorts.
The only other active horse in the top 20 prizemoney list is the Les Bridge-trained Classique Legend (eighth, $8,635,500).
If Nature Strip wins The Shorts, he will move into the all-time top 10 prizemoney earners, replacing Santa Ana Lane ($8,236,266).
On a similar theme, if Verry Elleegant wins the George Main, she will vault to sixth and a Kolding win will move him to 18th in the stakes rankings.
The opening day of the Sydney spring carnival could be a historic one for Australian racing as Waller goes into the weekend having with trained 497 Group or Listed winners – 126 Group 1 wins, 117 at Group 2 level, 124 Group 3 wins and 130 at Listed level.
If Waller trains the three big-race winners he needs to take him to 500 stakes, he will be only the seventh to achieve the feat after Tommy Smith, Bart Cummings, Colin Hayes, Lee Freedman, John Hawkes and Gai Waterhouse.
Waller was unaware he was so close to the magical milestone when interviewed by The Daily Telegraph earlier this week.
“I didn’t realise that (record) but it is pretty special,’’ Waller said.
“I remember all our Group 1 wins and there no feeling like winning those big races, whether it be a Listed race in the middle of winter at Rosehill, or a Wyong Cup or a race on the feature days.
“I’m very proud of the team around me to make it all happen, it’s a great effort.’’
Originally published as Chris Waller believes this is Nature Strip’s best chance to claim The Everest
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