IS it a healthy state of affairs for Australian racing when the powerful Chris Waller stable has 34 runners in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday?
Don’t bother reminding us that owners are entitled to have their horses trained by who they like or that Waller is the best trainer in the country, if not the world. Ask the punters or the form students who try to follow his horses how they feel?
It’s par for the course that heavily-backed stable favourites get beaten more than they win; second string runners often upstage their more fancied stablemates, and in more recent times, absolute bolters have been scoring upset wins when resuming.
Wondering what surprises Waller has in store for the poor punters this weekend: If you follow the form BIRDMAN should take some beating in the Doomben Cup. Any stable upset from ASTERIX and the one you couldn’t have is KOVALICA normally a ‘dud’ in the wet.
Waller’s best chance at Doomben looks to be KATOTO in the Listed Bill Carter. But the colt is jumping from a Kembla Grange Maiden win at his second start. He has already firmed to $2.8 favoritism.
PINITO is the $4.4 favorite to win the Magic Millions Fillies & Mares Miles dropping in class from the G1 Queen of the Turf at Randwick where he was set an impossible task and ran a closing seventh. Don’t dismiss the stablemate PIPPIE BEACH $12 which had a nice warm-up resuming in the Silk Stocking at the Gold Coast.
Moving on to the G2 The Roses for the three-year-old fillies and Waller saddles up another favourite – Chispa – which has been scratched from Randwick. The Savabeel filly looked good winning in restricted class on the Kensington track at her latest start – but we would want to be getting each-way odds to back her though. The stable also has SOVERATO engaged, has to be a chance after finishing third in the Listed The Coast at Gosford.
