Chris Waller has sights on 200 Group 1 winners after 12th Sydney trainers' title

[Chief Stipe]

Chris Waller has sights on 200 Group 1 winners after 12th Sydney trainers' title

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Chris Waller didn't set goals when he was struggling to fill 20 boxes in his stable so don't expect any outrageous predictions for this season.

Waller last week wrapped up his 12th successive Sydney trainers’ title and while he’s never been one to say what he wanted next, I had to ask him if Tommy Smith’s 33-straight Sydney trainer’s titles could be beaten.

“I do think about it,” Waller said.

“But I also think to myself how long I’ve still got to go and that it’s still a lot of years down the track.

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“There’s no ambition to run it down but I am keen to get to 200 Group 1 winners then assess after that.”

Trainer Chris Waller recorded his first international Group 1 win with Nature Strip in the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in June 14. Picture: Getty Images

Waller’s currently won 137 Group 1s and all but one (Nature Strip’s Royal Ascot triumph) have come in Australia.

He did admit going back home and winning a major in New Zealand was a box to tick.

“It is an ambition, my word it is,” he said.

“I’d love to go back there and win a Group 1 race and it’s something I will do when the right horse and the right opportunity comes along.”

Waller’s story is well known as the unknown trainer from Foxton in New Zealand who turned up in Sydney with nothing.

But not once did he think he wouldn’t make it, even when he was struggling to find horses to train.

“When you’re young, you don’t feel the pain as much and you’re just used to running on empty,” he said.

“I do remember watching Golden Slippers and Cox Plates from places like Newcastle and Kembla Grange.”

The circumstances Waller found himself in when he was battling in Sydney are still influential in the way his horses run to this day.

Gai Waterhouse was one of the elite trainers that Chris Waller learnt from in his early years in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

“I was lucky when I started. There was Gai Waterhouse, Bart Cummings, John Hawkes and John Size as the leaders and they are all elite trainers who specialised in different areas,” Waller said.

“It’s a pretty good area to learn in.

His horses generally always sit off the speed in their races. For a short period, he even tried to get Nature Strip to take a sit behind the leader.

“I think that (get back style) just came from having to keep the boxes full,” Waller said.

“I didn’t have enough horses to fill the boxes and if you couldn’t fill your boxes, you couldn’t pay your rent.

“I needed to get longevity out of my horses and I saw it with that training approach and that riding style. They seem to fit together.

“I couldn’t afford my horse to be hitting the front at the 300m and hitting a hole and not being able to back it up in two weeks’ time.

“The position I was in back then has shaped the way my horses run to this day.

“I don’t always like it because you do need a lot of luck when your horses are back. It’s tempo related, but it’s just a bit softer on the horse.”

Waller’s alarm goes off at 2.58am every morning which is something from the past he’s trying to change.

Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman have combined for over 420 victories together. Picture: Grant Guy

“My alarm probably goes off two hours too early but it’s the old timers who don’t want to accept that we need to change to look after the young people,” he said.

He’s referring to later track work starting times, which he and others are continuing to fight for.

In recent times no jockey has won more races for Waller than Hugh Bowman (423) but in the post-Winx era James McDonald has ridden more winners for the master trainer and is close to notching up his 300th for the 48-year-old.

Waller’s never had a stable rider but I asked him if James McDonald gets first pick of his horses.

“No,” Waller said quickly.

“James doesn’t get my best horse all the time.

“If he rides one in a trial and it goes well, we try and keep him on but he makes his own decisions.

“There’s lots of little pieces to the puzzle and I try and get the best I can which I’ve done from day one.”

“When I first started, Larry Cassidy was the leading rider and I used to use him then Darren Beadman made a comeback and I used to ring him every Sunday morning at 8am after John Hawkes told him what he was riding.

Chris Waller would call on Darren Beadman when the champion rider was available.

“One time out of 10 I’d get him but that one time out of 10 he made a difference so I’ve stuck to that system.

“I’m not saying Hugh Bowman, James McDonald and Nash Rawiller are necessarily the best horseman but they’ve got an uncanny knack of riding more winners than anyone else.”

Due to going up in weight from 53kg last start to 60.5kg for Saturday’s race, Hugh Bowman is the new rider of Bold Mac in the ninth event at Randwick.

The ex-Kiwi-trained runner won at Rosehill two weeks ago when defeating to handy Blesk in a 1400m race and he’s up to a mile on Saturday.

“It is hard to win on your Australian debut and on that occasion, he did a few little things wrong,” Waller said.

“Jay Ford said he has a good future once he puts it all together.”

Waller is backing Yggdrasil to get back into form in the third race on Saturday after running seventh last start off a four-week break and the quick back up changes things now.

“I think the wetter the better for her and I don’t think running last Saturday over 1800m is going to do her fitness levels any harm. She’s a fit horse and ready to run well,” Waller said.

The leading trainer has a typically big team heading to Randwick on Saturday and it’s rare he goes a weekend without multiple winners around the country.

Bold Mac (centre) winning at Rosehill at his Australian debut last month. Picture: Getty Images

He had 1102 starters in city racing last season – 716 more than the next most, Bjorn Baker.

Last season in town Waller trained more 94 more winners than Godolphin’s James Cummings and with that dominance comes criticism.

“I’m aware of it,” Waller said.

“I do watch social media but I don’t comment on it.

“It’s funny, you see some comments from some people and you just sort of think, is there any sense about what they’re saying and with some people you think fair comment.

“I started from the bottom without a hand in any way and I’m lucky I’ve got a system that works.

“Am I denying anyone any opportunities? I doubt it.

“I’m not afraid to run my horses. I could have one or two runners a race and leave the others at home but is that good for my owners? No.

“We help prop up field sizes but I don’t think we completely dominate races.”

I asked Waller if it was a good thing for racing if he had six runners in 10-horse fields.

“It would be disappointed if we were costing people getting runs. It wouldn’t be a good look if we have six in a race and there were five emergencies trained by five different trainers,” he said.

Chris Waller feels Yggdrasil can get back to form when he backs up from his seventh at Rosehill last week. Picture: Getty Images

On his horses, Waller said The Autumn Sun was the only horse he’s ever trained who would give Winx a run for her money.

A huge stud deal prevented the racing public from seeing him as an older horse and the new rich prizemoney races, including the ones introduced on Wednesday, should ensure those stallion types race on for at least their four-year-old season like Anamoe is.

“The prizemoney is what drives a lot of things. It takes a while for the Group status to catch up with prizemoney but in time that will happen,” Waller said.

“I think we have to respect that these prizemoney increases come through turnover and good management.

“Things are changing and if you don’t move with the times, you get left behind.

Waller should simply win his 13th successive trainer’s title this season and get one closer to Tommy Smith’s seemingly once impossible record.

Unless something unforeseen happens, Waller will break Smith’s record if he keeps going the way he is – for another 20 years.

But that would make him nearly 70 and he’s ruled out being an 80-plus year-old trainer like Bart Cummings and so many other before him were.

“No, that won’t happen,” Waller said.

“I’ll do it for however long I enjoy it and however long my wife Steph will allow me to do it.”

[Chief Stipe]

1 minute ago, Chief Stipe said:

His horses generally always sit off the speed in their races. For a short period, he even tried to get Nature Strip to take a sit behind the leader.

“I think that (get back style) just came from having to keep the boxes full,” Waller said.

“I didn’t have enough horses to fill the boxes and if you couldn’t fill your boxes, you couldn’t pay your rent.

“I needed to get longevity out of my horses and I saw it with that training approach and that riding style. They seem to fit together.

“I couldn’t afford my horse to be hitting the front at the 300m and hitting a hole and not being able to back it up in two weeks’ time.

“The position I was in back then has shaped the way my horses run to this day.

“I don’t always like it because you do need a lot of luck when your horses are back. It’s tempo related, but it’s just a bit softer on the horse.”

I guess he learnt more from Bart than Gai.

[holy ravioli]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:05 AM, Chief Stipe said:

I guess he learnt more from Bart than Gai.

Think he might just be being...polite.