Chris Waller is building quite a Group One record with now 28 victories and he was no doubt delighted to win his first
Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) with a barnstorming run by
BOBAN at Randwick on Saturday.
Typical of the strength of the stable and its ability to produce winners, Chris also trained the winner of the
Gr2 ROMAN CONSUL - ZOUSTAR and the winner of the
Gr2 PREMIERE Stakes - ARINOSA.
Importantly, Chris achieved the results with horses that could hardly be described as "Blue-bloods" with progeny by lower profiled sires Bernardini, Northern Meteor and Dash For Cash.
BOBAN
Showing great heart to win, Boban struck some trouble at the 600 metres, jockey Glyn Schofield reporting that the four year-old got onto heels when they steadied up mid-race.
“He got onto the bit and Jimmy [Cassidy on Riva De Lago] whipped up around me and fired me up a bit,” he said.
“But fortunately I got onto Riva De Lago’s back who gave me a beautiful suck-run up the rise.
“I peeled off his back and I thought we were just going to win by a length but the long run he’s made, of course he couldn’t sustain that right the way through.
“I’m just happy my number has gone up. From thinking I was going to win by a length to winning by a pimple, I’m happy with the pimple!”
Beating an always gallant Streama (Stratum) in a tight finish in which Toydini, who is also by Bernardini (by A P Indy), was third.
Boban won his sixth race from just 16 starts.
Successful at his last three outings, taking out the Bill Ritchie (Gr 3, 1400m) two weeks ago, Boban dropped 1.5kg from that run, his form seeing him start amongst the more favoured runners in the $500,000 Epsom.
A horse who has had issues regarding temperament, Boban, who was originally trained by Anthony Freedman, raced well without winning last time in and Waller admitted that a major feature was not foremost in his mind at that stage.
CHRIS WALLER
“I didn’t expect him to be winning an Epsom after his last preparation,” he said.
“But horses like him, when they put a few together in Sydney, they can normally go to the next step because the racing is so strong.”
BOBAN - Epsom Winner
Waller’s third Group One winner for the season, Boban (4g Bernardini - Kenbelle by Kenmare) sold for $100,000 at the 2011 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He has now won over six times that amount from his six wins and two placings.
ZOUSTAR
The day was not all about Boban’s Epsom win. The Waller juggernaut kept rolling when he won the
ROMAN CONSUL Stakes Gr2 with the boom colt
ZOUSTAR who toyed with his rivals under the guidance of master craftsman Jimmy Cassidy.
ARINOSA
Then the stable rounded out the day in perfect fashion when
ARINOSA won the
PREMIERE Stakes Gr2 with Brenton Avdulla on board.
There is plenty of new silverware to be polished in the stable office this week and its just going to keep multiplying as we head deeper into the carnival.