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Waller weekly news
08 May, 2015
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The team has continued to pull together over the past week as we make the best of what has been a muddled few weeks thanks to the recent
Sydney weather. Despite Hawkesbury’s meeting being called off on Saturday, we still celebrated two winners this week with Electrifyin’ resuming
in fine style at the provincials on Saturday, providing a good confidence booster for the talented and well-bred galloper.
A few days later, the determined young Miss Antaeus streaked in as our latest two year old winner, leaving a tidy field of youngsters in her wake
at Warwick Farm on Wednesday. Closely related to Zoustar and by Brazen Beau’s sire I Am Invincible let’s hope this potent combination continues
to be a force to be reckoned with in the future for her owners which includes Harry and Arthur Mitchell of Yarraman Park and friends.
Thanks to the weather we have been battling, we have a sizable team at Rosehill keen to be unleashed on what should be the nicest track we’ve
raced on in some time on Saturday. In addition to our home-track hopes we also have a big team ready to fire at Doomben including five runners
looking to secure the stable’s 12th Group One this season and Chris’s 45th in total.
Chris’s video preview is live on the website, head to our homepage to find out their thoughts on our runners at Doomben and Rosehill.
We wish you all a safe and enjoyable weekend and the very best of luck over the next week!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
• WINNERs, miss antaeus books trip to scone
• stable passes 100 mark but still keen for g1
winners, horses for courses, getting to know
matt cumani & photos.
www.cwallerracing.com | [email protected] | +612 9760 5700
CHRIS WALLER RACING - WINNERS THIS WEEK
miss antAeus
2yo F by I Am Invincible - Crestfallen by Rivotious
Having won a barrier trial recently at Warwick Farm,
this promising filly made no mistake on her raceday
debut to score convincingly at the same track on
Wednesday over 1100m. Ridden by Blake Shinn, the
dimunitive youngster showed good pace from the
barriers to be in third position, three wide outside
the leading duo. Always travelling nicely, she took
over at the 200m mark and went on to score quite
comfortably at the finish. No doubt she will gain
plenty of experience from this win with Chris eyeing
a possible tilt at a Listed race at the upcoming Scone
carnival.
Elecrtifyin’
3yo G by Redoute’s Choice - I Got Chills by General
Nediym
Having shown plenty of promise during his first
preparation, the son of Redoute’s Choice scored an
impressive victory first up this time in at Newcastle
on Saturday over 1200m.
Although he had the steadier of 60.5kg to burden in
the heavy track conditions, Electrifyin’ was simply
a class above his rivals. Always travelling strongly
in third position under his rider Mitchell Bell, he
raced away from the pack once asked to score a
commanding victory. A trip back to midweek class
will be the next step for this lightly raced gelding.
Masa and Miss Antaeus
Mitchell Bell and Electrifyin’
Thanks to Bradley Photographers and
darryl sherer for our weekly photos.
www.bradleyphotos.com.au
Miss Antaeus books trip to Scone
after impressive debut win
Chris Waller is happy for Miss Antaeus to go for a spell after competing at the lucrative Scone carnival following the filly’s impressive
debut win at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
Miss Antaeus was the first horse out of the barriers in the More Than
Ready@Vinery Handicap (1100m) but her jockey Blake Shinn was
content with sitting well off the fence.
“After she jumped really well, I thought if I can get her in a nice steady
rhythm quickly, she’ll finish the race right off, which is half the key to
these two-year-olds,” Shinn said.
“From the chute, you’ve only got the one bend and the ground is
better off the rail anyway.”
Miss Antaeus was under siege rounding the home turn as Godolphin
filly Heroism, who loomed ominously to the outside of Waller’s
juvenile.
But Shinn’s decision to get Miss Antaeus to relax quickly paid off as the
daughter of I Am Invincible pulled away late for a comfortable win.
“He’s a good stallion that horse,” Waller said. “And his progeny get through the wet very well. The owners (Yarraman Park) of this
filly also own I Am Invincible so they’ll be very happy.”
Yarraman Park is in Scone and Waller said Miss Antaeus will get her chance at stakes level in her home town. “She’ll head
up for the (Listed) Woodlands Stakes (1100m) and then we’ll give her a spell,” he said.
Source: Nic Ashman, The Daily Telegraph.
Chris Waller passes the 100 mark but
still keen for group 1 winners
Sydney premier trainer Chris Waller chalked up his 100th group 1 runner for the season last week, but his focus is on
winners and the next chance for success comes in Saturday’s Doomben Cup where he has a handful of runners.
Only one trainer has had 100 group 1 runners in Australia in a season before - David Hayes when he saddled 108 starters
for 11 winners. Waller is set to break that record and already has 11 winners for the season - and the Brisbane carnival
could provide a few more to close his most successful year.
“We want to win as many group 1 [wins] as possible, but these horses
have all earned their places to be in this race and really it is the level
they are at,” Waller said.
“We are always trying to improve and we have taken the steps every
year to get better. We remember people saying we were just a midweek
stable, then just a Saturday stable, I don’t know what they will say now.”
Foreteller, Moriarty, Hawkspur, Weary and I’m Imposing (pictured) are
a microcosm of the older part of his stable and give an insight into his
success.
Foreteller and Moriarty are group 1 winning imports, Hawkspur a
Queensland Derby winner that is getting on, while Weary and I’m
Imposing show Waller’s ability to keep getting the best from his stable as
they approach retirement.
Waller said splitting them was like trying to pick between his children.
“I can make a case for all of them winning,” Waller said. “I’m Imposing is
an old marvel [at nine] and his run in the Hollindale [Stakes at the Gold
Coast] was very good and it is the best guide for this race. He just keeps
getting better.
“Foreteller was also an eye-catcher in the Hollindale and he is a group 1 winner at weight-for-age.
“Moriarty has been set for this race and has always been the sort of horse to bring his best when we get him ready for a
race like this.
“Weary didn’t come up in the autumn and this is a try at 2000 metres for a very good horse, and Hawkspur has been
there before.”
Waller will head to Brisbane on Saturday and also get a good look at the next generation of the stable.
Ballet Suite is on a path towards the Queensland Oaks, while Sadler’s Lake gets out to a trip in the Rough Habit Plate on
his road to the Derby.
“He is a very nice horse and I don’t think we have seen the best of him yet,” Waller said. “These are horses that we have
brought through slowly.
“[Two-year-old] Counterattack will go up to Brisbane and the race [the Champagne Stakes] might be a bit short for him,
but he is getting ready for the Sires and JJ Atkins, where we have had some success before.”
In total, Waller will have 34 runners for the afternoon with another 25 of his stable due to start at Rosehill on the 10-race
card.
Meanwhile, jockey James McDonald is confident he will be right to ride Foreteller in the Doomben Cup and Knoydart in
the BTC Cup on Saturday, despite missing Wednesday’s Warwick Farm meeting because of a knee injury.
“I think Foreteller is a great ride in the Doomben Cup and I have been looking forward to it. They told me to stay off the
knee for a couple of days and I’ll be up there on Saturday,” McDonald said. Source: Chris Roots, SMH.
Horses for courses rings true
The old saying ‘horses for courses’ certainly rang true this week as focus turned to Warnambool’s iconic meeting with three of our
imports (two from the UK and one from New Zealand) showing that they’re more than handy in their new vocations with their new
trainers over the sticks.
Once a horse reaches its level in the stable, be it mid-week grade, Saturday or an even more credentialled galloper who is now
weighted out of being competitive, we look to either retire and rehome them, find an easier racing environment for them or in the
case of these three, find a new code of racing where their staying talents can still shine through.
Zataglio was one who showed endless staying ability while in the stable yet didn’t have that turn of foot to move onto a higher grade.
When the stable felt he had reached his level, he was sold and has since found his way to legendary jumps trainer Eric Musgrove’s
yard where he took out the Maiden Hurdle.
“I thought some of them may have been a bit too good for him but he is tough and honest and he did a really good job to win,” said
Mosgrove of the Savabeel gelding.
Thubiaan’s win in the time-honoured $100,000 Brierly Steeplechase (3,450m) was impressive and especially thrilling with his
original ownership from his time at Chris Waller Racing remaining.
Having trained jumpers in NZ and having fought off jumps trainers in England to buy the honest galloper, Chris had more than an
inkling he was going to be something to behold in the jumping realm and on Chris’s advice, he was sent to Eric Musgrove.
“He’s got a high cruising speed, he’s tough and he’s honest. He tries hard and he can gallop. I think he’s a very exciting horse and one
of the best I’ve had,” said Musgrove after the staggering six length win after a patient ride from Irishman Martin Kelly.
Thubiaan will now be targeted at the Australian Steeplechase and in the longer term, Japan for the Nakayama Grand Jump, won by
his trainer three times with Karasi from 2005 to 2007.
Stand to Gain fitted the latter of our categories in terms of his reason for moving on from the stable. The 2011 Sydney Cup winner
had reached the age where he was no longer competitive at the highest level and was too highly weighted in the lower grades to be
competitive.
Existing owners Ralph Portaro and Gary Stead offered to buy out the other owners and try him over the jumps from Bob Challis’
stable. This bold move culminated in his incredibly courageous $100,000 Galleywood Hurdle win on Wednesday. Making the
running for most of the 3200m event, hearts sank as he was headed and looked to be fading early in the straight before the nine year
old veteran rallied again for a spine-tingling victory.
Stand to Gain.
Thubiaan.
USEFUL LINKS FOR THE SCONE CARNIVAL
Scone’s stand-alone meeting next week is a bucket list event for any racing enthusiast
with a couple of useful links below for owners looking to head to the Hunter.
Accommodation Options.
Owner’s Ticketing Information
Transport
GETTING TO KNOW MATT CUMANI
While assisting with the team on the Gold Coast this week, Matt Cumani kindly spared a few minutes to tell us a bit about himself
and answer this week’s quetions...
I think I’ve always wanted to train horses but city life always appealed to me. After school I had a series of jobs/internships in
manufacturing (Dr Martens Shoe and Boot where, one day, I put in 1,200 toe caps!) and banking (Lehman Brothers and Bear
Stearns – both of which collapsed in the GFC). After university I worked in politics for three years until the General Election
which was won by Tony Blair (for the third and last time). It was then that I got a job in racing. After a couple of years as assistant to
Red Cadeaux’s trainer, Ed Dunlop, I came to Australia, on holiday, to watch my father’s Purple Moon run second in the Melbourne
Cup. I fell in love with Australian racing then and always hoped I’d come back but I had already planned a two year stint in the
USA. There I worked for Todd Pletcher on the East Coast and Paddy Gallagher in California. After a few years back in Newmarket
I got this great opportunity to come and learn from Chris and his team - and I’m loving it!
Full name? Matthew Sergio Simon Cumani (middle names after my grandfathers)
Nickname? Matty or Serge
Best quote? “Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.”
Will Ferrell made me laugh when he said: "Before you marry a person you should first make them use a computer with s-l-o-w
internet to see who they really are."
Role/connection with CWR? Strapper/general dogs body/sponge
Favourite part of the job? The variety. The racing industry requires all sorts of different skills – that’s what makes it interesting.
Favourite horse? Kermadec – he has a truly modern, global pedigree, he’s a very straightforward colt to deal with and he’s
bloody good!!
Best horse ever seen? Frankel, when he won the 2,000 Guineas and later at stud. He was obviously a fantastic racehorse with a
great physical presence but, interestingly, he didn’t strike me as a big horse. It wasn’t until I got the opportunity to stand into him
that I really understood how big and strong he is. I put my initial misapprehension down to his perfect proportions.
Role model? I don’t think I have one. Strangely...
Favourite food? Italian
Favourite jockey? Frankie Dettori at his best. Not only is he a brilliant judge of pace and tactically very versatile but he was, and
still is to some extent, beautiful to watch; he just hovers above the horse, absorbing every movement. For the horse it must feel like
there’s no-one on his back.
If you weren’t in racing, what would you have done? When I was very young I wanted to be a ‘moon man’ – which I
suppose is still very much achievable! I’d have liked to have been an architect or an engineer.
If you could invite two people for dinner, who would you invite? Justin Welby and Richard Dawkins
Event in the world that you would most like to attend? The Palio of Siena.
What would you do with your last $5? Back a winning roughie.
Tip for the weekend? Counterattack
Disgraceful last week with Effie.
Libidosun winning last week.
Darley Flying Start trainee Brittlan Wall captured these
brilliant photos of Kool Kompany showing his interesting
markings in England over the weekend. Owned by a
syndicate headed by Neil Werrett, he is destined to join the
Chris Waller Racing team later this year.
For more on Kool Kompany, check out last week’s
newsletter.
Postcard from the paddock, Boynton Park sent in this pic of
Group 1 winners Grand Marshal, Amicus and Beaten Up
enjoying their time out on the grass.
Campanology
Jessie and El Novio
Foreteller tucking
into the Gold Coast
grass...
Foreteller mulling over why his
nick name is Fatty...
Touchdown! Candice and Ali arrive safely at the Gold Coast this
morning with Geoff and Mary Grimish’s talented pair, Weary and
Counterattack.
Straight into the grass,
Counterattack likes the idea of
a junket on the Gold Coast.
Walking around the waterways.
Moriarty does his trademark giraffe pose.