Waller starts to get serious with 2YO team
Weight of numbers, blue-blood pedigrees and some promising barrier trial form can ensure Chris Waller’s string of two-year-olds stay on schedule to deliver on a mid-season stable prediction.
Waller will roll out his most significant representation of juveniles so far in 2015-2016 with more than half of the 11 acceptors for the TAB More Than Just Winning Maiden at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
His team includes the early favourite Earth, a half-brother to Boban in Prodigy as well as Betcha Thinking and Catch A Wave, two unraced horses who will be seen in the Ingham family’s famous silks.
Aside from Magic Night Stakes placegetter Omei Sword, Waller’s youngsters have been absent from the better two-year-old races during the Sydney autumn carnival.
But if his stable runs true to form, there’s every chance Waller will be challenging for the honour as Australia’s leading two-year-old trainer by the end of July.
“We have given our two-year-olds the time they have needed and the stable will be strong late in the season,” Waller said.
Earth made his only appearance when well-tried before finishing second to In The Vanguard at Canterbury in February.
The colt looked in neat enough order in beating Prodigy in a 900m barrier trial at Rosehill late last month for bookmakers to mark him a clear-cut $2.50 favourite to open his account at Warwick Farm.
In Betcha Thinking and Catch A Wave, Waller has two horses who are the Ingham family’s second generation of runners for Waller.
When Bob Ingham sold his bloodstock empire to Sheikh Mohammed in 2008, one of racing’s best-known owners selected Waller to train a vastly reduced team of racehorses.
We Betcha and Little Surfer Girl were among his first yearling sale purchases to go to Waller, winning 12 races between them and they are the respective mothers of Betcha Thinking and Catch A Wave.
Kembla Grange placegetter Sezanne and Star Thoroughbreds’ Aquatic complete Waller’s midweek juvenile line-up.
Betcha Thinking is also an acceptor for Thursday’s Sydney provincial meeting at Hawkesbury.