3am Start the morning after winning the Melbourne Cup! VE unlikely to run next year!

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Melbourne CupTrainers

Cup winner Waller straight back to work with 3am start

Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Chris Waller was back at trackwork early on Wednesday morning.

 

 

By Ray Thomas
05:19pm • 03 November 2021

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Chris Waller’s first morning as a Melbourne Cup-winning trainer didn’t start differently to any other – his alarm went off at 2.58am.

This is the time when most are probably heading home after their Cup celebrations, not getting out of bed to start another working day.

“It was business as usual this morning,” Waller said at Rosehill Gardens trackwork.

“The alarm was set for the same time and we get up to do it all again but that’s my team, they do a fantastic job 365 days a year.

“I have a lot of horses and a lot of great support so the little I can do is show my face (for trackwork) and make sure I’m part of the team as well.”

 

 

Champion mare Verry Elleegant gave Waller his first Melbourne Cup with her barnstorming win at Flemington on Tuesday. The Hall of Fame trainer celebrated at home with family and friends later that night.

Waller said he was only starting to appreciate the magnitude of his achievement as he was bombarded from the moment he woke up on Wednesday with media interview requests.

“I did my first radio interview this morning at 3.30,” Waller revealed.

“I’m realising how special it is to win the Melbourne Cup. The race is a household name in Australia and New Zealand.”

 

Verry Elleegant gave Chris Waller his first win in the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Grant Guy

 

 

Waller reiterated it was an 11th hour decision to start Verry Elleegant in the Melbourne Cup.

“I tried to find every reason not to run her,” he said. “After a flat run earlier in her preparation she had bounced right back so I sent the owners a message that I can’t find a reason not to run in the Cup.”

When asked if this proved the best decision he has made in his life, the trainer replied: “The best decision I have made is marrying my wife, Stephanie,” he said.

“But in terms of the horse, it was the right decision to make. Verry Elleegant was Horse of the Year last year and with that comes a lot of responsibility.

“She deserved her chance in the Melbourne Cup and it was a fantastic ride by James McDonald.”

Waller maintains he has no regrets not being at Flemington for his first Melbourne Cup win.

“None at all,” he said.

“I got to watch it with my family and that is something I will remember the rest of my life.”

 

Chris Waller holds a press conference at Rosehill Gardens on Wednesday morning following his Melbourne Cup triumph with Verry Elleegant.

 

Verry Elleegant has developed into one of the most remarkably versatile champions of the modern era, having won 10 Group 1 races from 1400m to 3200m under handicap and weight-for-age conditions, on dry or wet track surfaces.

Waller said Verry Elleegant’s versatility was “her defining characteristic” although the trainer doubted the mare will start in a handicap race again.

“I didn’t think she would carry the 57kg on Tuesday, especially being a mare,” Waller said.

“For her to do that was an amazing effort. To try it again, it would be tricky as she is in the twilight of her career.

“How long can she keep racing? What she is doing for a six-year-old is special, her legs are great, she is an equine athlete of the highest calibre.

“If she is to race on, we need to make sure she can race at the elite level and I don’t think the autumn will be any problem.

 

 

“But if at any stage she is showing us she is ready to be a mum, she will become a mum.”

Verry Elleegant will be sent for a well-earned spell with Waller already thinking of her preparation towards the $4 million Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick during The Championships next autumn.

This was the same event that Winx famously won her 33rd – and final – race in succession in 2019. On the same day, Waller also won the ATC Australian Oaks with a little-known filly called Verry Elleegant.

Incredibly, as Winx retired, Waller had found his next champion although the trainer didn’t know it at the time.

“Verry Elleegant was like a caged tiger, basically, when we first got her,” Waller said.

“But through maturity she has developed into this beautiful horse that is putting her free spirit into her racing.

“One of my trackwork riders, Chris Harwood, rides Verry Elleegant almost every day and he has helped harness this young girl that was a rough diamond into a beautiful swan as we saw at Flemington.

“For Verry Elleegant to come along as Winx finished, who would have thought – lightning does strike twice.”