Apollo first-up for Verry Elleegant
Melbourne Cup heroine Verry Elleegant will make her first appearance since winning the great race when she lines-up in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Waller said the 10-time Group One winner has returned in good order and she has some exciting plans ahead of her this autumn.
“It is a huge privilege to say that you are training a Melbourne Cup winner and to see her each morning has been quite a buzz,” Waller told RSN.
“She has come back well and starts off her preparation at Randwick over 1400m.
“To win I think she would need everything in her favour – good speed in the middle stages, do everything right, and be within striking distance.
“I would be pretty confident that it will be a soft track, which will be perfect for her.”
While she leads the voting for next month’s AUD$5 million All Star Mile (1600m), Waller said she is doubtful to contest the rich mile race.
“It is unlikely she would run there (All Star Mile). We are spoilt with options and I realise it is not ideal for people voting but it is not my choice, we have got to try and keep options alive,” he said.
“If she was to miss the Chipping Norton (Group 1, 1600m) for whatever reason then the All-Star Mile would come into our calculations.
“If we say we are out, we are out forever, we can’t come back in. We just want to keep the option open without misleading anyone, and I am sure everybody can see that.”
The daughter of Grangewilliam Stud stallion Zed was originally trained in New Zealand by part-owner Nick Bishara, for whom she won two of her three starts before her partial sale and move to Australia.
Waller will also line-up fellow Group Oner winner and Kiwi-bred Kolding in the Apollo Stakes.
“Kolding had a throat issue in the spring that we worked out after his last run. He didn’t need surgery but he did need antibiotics for four to six weeks,” Waller said.
“That should have him right for a better preparation. He is a good horse but needs to improve.”
Offered through Wentwood Grange’s 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale draft, Kolding was purchased by Guy Mulcaster for NZD$170,000 on behalf of prominent Queensland owner Neville Morgan, a long-time supporter of Mulcaster and Waller.