By guest columnist ‘GODFREY SMITH’
MY long-standing belief that it’s un-Australian not to have a punt on a public holiday has been tested – by of all people a high profile Kiwi.
I went to bed last night wishing that I had spent the afternoon on the couch watching the Rugby League or Aussie Rules – two great games with historical significance.
Tossing and turning after a bad day on the punt at Canterbury Park, I had a dream that Racing NSW had called applications for a head-hunting Chief Steward with a special dislike for New Zealand trainers.
I woke this morning to realise that dream was still the nightmare of trying to follow horses from the great one, Chris Waller, in Sydney the afternoon before.
Spare a thought for the long-suffering punters. When will they ever learn to steer clear when the Waller stable has multiple runners in a race?
That was a ‘given’ when he had 14 runners on the Public Holiday card at Canterbury.
Where would Sydney racing be without him? The first would have been left with only four starters without his trio. He had three in the second and three in the third.
For punters, the numbers game is not the problem with Waller – it’s trying to follow the form of those who run. His stable won half the card at Canterbury but only one – Hello Captain (backed off the map into $1.70) – ran favourite.
They – whoever ‘they’ are – plunged debutante Satin Serenade in the first and it went down by a wart to stablemate Miss Scandal $5 which led throughout. By the way that filly started a heavily-backed favourite at her previous start (first-up) and dropped out to run fifth. The other Waller runner in the race Extremely Chic ran a far better race on debut when an eye-catching third but couldn’t run a place in the seven-horse field yesterday. When the most unlikely one of the trio wins, you might as well throw the form guide out the window but that’s how hard it is following the form of the Waller horses.
Off to the second we go and another Waller debutante, Klocke, backed from $7 to $2 looked the best of good things. The Coolmore-owned colt had trialled like a winner and been scratched from two previous assignments, especially saved for this. You guessed it – he ran a close second to The Machine Gun and cost the punters plenty.
Moving on to the third and Hello Captain completed a hat-trick but the $1.70 didn’t win back much of what punters had already been lost on the Waller runners and by then they – like me – were starting to get ‘gun shy’.
With four of the eight in the fourth from the top stable, this was a real head-scratcher. What do we do, follow the money for the favourite Wounder or stay out? The latter would have been a safer option but to rub salt into the wounds, stablemates Ballpark $11 and Lipstick $6.5 beat her home.
And why wouldn’t you want to back Ballpark? He hadn’t been sighted at two runs since a spell at Wyong and Kembla Grange and his stablemates had far superior form. Just the right form for a Waller winner.
And did the Stewards see fit to question the form reversal – of course not? They focussed on the well-backed Deepwater Artist which ran 4th at $4.2 and their report read:
WHEN questioned, Apprentice Coriah Keatings stated that although the horse travelled well through the early and middle stages, it came off the bridle near the 600m and could not hold its position. She added that Deepwater Artist then responded to her riding in the home straight and closed off quite well. She said that, in her view, the gelding will be better suited over a longer distance on a bigger track.
Why not then follow up and ask Waller’s rep on course, ‘The Dazzler’ to provide an excuse (the stable has a book full) for the improvement of Ballpark. He had already told SKY: ‘Ballpark has always had it there. It was just a matter of finding it. The addition of visors and front-riding specialist Tim Clark did the trick.’
Just when me and my punting mates thought things couldn’t get any worse the Waller-trained Sting In the Tail decides to put his best hoof forward and win at $9.50. And why wouldn’t you want to back him stepping up to a more suitable trip? After all he only beat one home second-up at Warwick Farm finishing over seven lengths from the winner – again the right form for a Waller winner.
We thought the Stipes might have overlooked the form reversal because it was afternoon tea time. Those who knew the Chairman on the day, ‘Railo’, when he was in Queensland, would be only too aware of his liking for a free feed, even if it was scones and jam on this occasion.
But that wasn’t the reason. They managed to interrogate apprentice Molly Fitzgerald and trainer Brad Widdup on the reasons for the failure of the well-backed Audrey’s Lane. Once again the more high profile Waller stable incredibly dodges any questioning after a form reversal.
And on to the last, we (the resilient punters), with little in our pockets, were still confident ‘Wally World’ would do the right thing and get us out of trouble. We unloaded what little we had left on Alphard, a good go which sat one-one and dropped out to run a pathetic last.
This time the hard-working stipes had little choice but to ask a question or two. After all its form was first class and the horse looked ready to win. So what was the Waller stable excuse this time? Here’s what the Stewards’ Report read:
ALPHARD: (Jockey) Tyler Schiller reported that after being crossed by Tuscany near the 1000m, the gelding commenced to race fiercely and took some time to settle. He said that this impacted on the horse’s ability to close the race off. However, its performance was nonetheless disappointing. Stewards will follow up on the post-race condition of Alphard.
‘Disappointing’ – it was woeful and the horse should have been ordered to trial before racing again but it wasn’t. Little wonder punters and fellow trainers describe Waller as ‘untouchable’. Of course yours truly and LGHR would never suggest that.
