Trainer Chris Waller ‘destined to rewrite record books’, Bruce McAvaney says ahead of The Championships Day 2
Such is Chris Waller’s dominance, he this week chalked up a major training milestone to virtually no fanfare. But if he continues at this rate, the records of TJ Smith and Bart Cummings will soon fall.
Champion trainer Chris Waller is rewriting racing history with such monotonous regularity it seems we have become almost blasé about his achievements.
Take the Australian Turf Club meeting at Gosford on Wednesday as an example. When Hartman won the Super Maiden, it gave the trainer his 100th metropolitan winner for the season.
This is the 14th consecutive year Waller has raised the bat for a century of city wins but there has been virtually no acknowledgment of this outstanding feat.
The only trainer to better this record is the legendary Tommy Smith with 16 straight years of 100 or more city winners during his world record 33-year reign as Sydney’s premier trainer between 1952 and 1985.
Waller could challenge both of Smith’s records as he continues his inexorable march to a 14th Sydney premiership in a row this season.
All hart! 💜
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 10, 2024
Hartman leads all the way at @gosford_races!@RachelK11@cwallerracingpic.twitter.com/YLN4FQn7um
• Ray Thomas’ Queen Elizabeth Stakes verdict: Why Waller’s mare will reign
Whether the 50-year-old Waller, a meticulous workaholic by nature, can continue this pace for another two decades to break Smith’s premiership streak only time will tell.
But many of Smith’s other revered records as well as those of other training greats like Bart Cummings are under threat as Waller continues to dominate Sydney and Australian racing.
At Royal Randwick on Saturday, it is not inconceivable that Waller could train the winners of all four Group 1 races on Day Two of The Championships.
The Hall of Fame trainer has four starters in the Group 1 $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) including the $2.20 favourite Via Sistina, the outstanding former English mare who was so impressive at her Australian debut winning the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes last month.
Via Sistina’s stablemates Buckaroo, Lindermann and Kovalica are also lining up in Sydney’s richest autumn carnival race.
It all pays off for Via Sistina, who’s added another G1 to her name as she wins the Ranvet Stakes for her first win in Australia!@aus_turf_club@mcacajamez@cwallerracingpic.twitter.com/oaTXtmse2u
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 23, 2024
• Racenet experts’ tips: Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Sydney Cup, Australian Oaks, Queen of the Turf
Waller withdrew Atishu from the Queen Elizabeth Stakes to run her in the Group 1 $1 million Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m), a race she won last year.
Atishu is in great form this autumn and is rated a $5 second favourite behind stablemate Zougotcha at $3.50. Waller also has the in-form Olentia and the talented Madame Pommery in the race.
Then there is the Group 1 $2 million Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m), a race Waller has already won a record-equalling five times. He is represented by 2021 Cup winner Selino and Manzoice.
The Group 1 $1 million ATC Australian Oaks (2400m) is being billed as a clash between Orchestral and Zardozi with Waller’s filly, Tutta La Vita, considered their main rival.
Kiwi filly Orchestral overhauls Tutta La Vita in a thrilling edition of the @VineryStud Stakes ðŸ´
— Australian Turf Club (@aus_turf_club) March 30, 2024
Tutta La Vita and Zardozi run second and third respectively 🥈🥉#ExpectItAll#RosehillGardenspic.twitter.com/9FGRdQP6Cr
• Tips, runner-by-runner analysis: Queen Elizabeth Stakes
Waller seems set to build on his career tally of 160 Group 1 wins and the 11 majors he has already trained this season.
Just dwell on those numbers for a moment. Waller has been training since 2000 and prepared his first Group 1 winner with Triple Honour in the 2008 Doncaster Handicap.
Waller has also prepared at least 10 Group 1 winners in a season eight times now including the all-time record of 18 majors set in 2018-19.
If Waller continues to win feature races at this rate for the next 10 years, he will easily surpass the record held jointly by Smith and Cummings of 246 Group 1 wins.
Some context is needed here because when Smith won his first Group 1 race with Bragger (Railway Quality, now the George Ryder Stakes) in 1946 there were only 40 races of equivalent Group 1 standard.
When Cummings won his first Group 1 with Stormy Passage (SA Derby) in 1958, there were 48 Group 1 races on the turf calendar.
Waller has the advantage in the modern era as there are now 74 Group 1 races across the nation this season but this should not detract from the trainer’s towering achievements.
"It's pretty good, it was missing."
— 7HorseRacing 🎠(@7horseracing) April 6, 2024
An emotional @cwallerracing adds his first Australian Derby to his CV. pic.twitter.com/1JPaR1i9zk
• Tips, runner-by-runner analysis: Sydney Cup
Bruce McAvaney, the voice of Australian sport and presenter of Channel 7’s coverage of Day Two of The Championships, said Waller was destined to rewrite the record books.
“What Chris Waller has already achieved with his Group 1 wins and premierships is incredible, and he has also produced a masterpiece with Winx – he’s trained the great horse,’’ McAvaney said.
“Tommy Smith had Tulloch and Kingston Town, two of the first five inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame and truly great champions, plus his world record 33 Sydney premierships.
“Bart Cummings didn’t have a Tulloch or Kingston Town but he trained many champions and I’ve always thought Galilee was as good a stayer as we’ve ever seen.
“But Bart made his legend with those 12 Melbourne Cup wins so both men have had something to hang their hat on.
“Chris found a horse in Winx that if the Hall of Fame was starting today, she would be the first picked alongside Phar Lap, and he has a complete hold on Sydney racing like nothing we have seen since TJ.
“I’ve got no doubt that in time he is going to go past Tommy and Bart for most Group 1 wins.’’
• Tips, runner-by-runner analysis: Australian Oaks
McAvaney said one of the examples of Waller’s genius was his ability to nurture and develop champions and elite racehorses.
Atishu is a case in point. The mare was once a bit of a barrier rogue and struggled to win races but is now regarded as a genuine Group 1 horse.
What about his former Horse of the Year winners Nature Strip and Verry Elleegant? Both were difficult horses to train early in their careers but Waller found the key to them and in time they became bona fide champions.
“When Nature Strip ran unplaced in the Oakleigh Plate, most thought he was never going to fulfil his potential, he was just a flat-track bully,” McAvaney said.
“But Chris was able to get the best out of Nature Strip, training him to win three TJ Smith Stakes, The Everest and go to Royal Ascot where he brained them.
“Verry Elleegant was very wayward, particularly early in her career, and she needed Chris’s guiding, soft touch. She is now, historically, remembered as one of the great mares of all-time.
“These are examples and symbolic of what Chris does with racehorses. He doesn’t give up on them.”
• Tips, runner-by-runner analysis: Queen of the Turf Stakes
McAvaney said Waller’s two-year-old triple crown clean sweep last year with Shinzo (Golden Slipper) and Militarize (Inglis Sires and Champagne Stakes) was another example of his training expertise.
“There were those questions about whether Chris could train two-year-olds,” he said.
“I’ve no doubt Chris was aware of that talk and being the deep thinker he is, I’m sure he set his mind to trying to change that perception.
“Two-year-old racing was almost like the last bastion for him and he was able to put all that to rest by winning the three Group 1 races last year.
“It seems if you put a task in front of him, he is able to rise to that challenge. He is constantly reinventing and rejuvenating his stable.”
McAvaney predicted the next major challenge for Waller would be the emergence of the Ciaron Maher stable as a legitimate premiership threat.
Maher is building a strong Sydney stable presence and has climbed to third in the premiership standings with 43 wins so far this season.
“Ciaron Maher can challenge Chris for the premiership,” McAvaney said.
“Their battle over the next decade or so is going to be intriguing
“If Ciaron concentrates on Sydney he will have the numbers to go with Chris at the midweeks and weekend. Their battle over the next decade or so is going to be intriguing.”
‘I live a funny sort of life’: Pride and his joy talk up their chances
The trainer of proven Everest performer Private Eye believes his horse can give him two in a row.
Racing Confidential: Gai plots two-state Group 1 ambush
Hall of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse has never lacked confidence when it comes to her horses … and that was never more evident than when she assessed her chances of securing a unique The Everest-Caulfield Cup double on Saturday.