JUST how much Sydney racing relies on the powerful Chris Waller stable has again been highlighted by today’s major midweek meeting at Canterbury.
Without the Waller numbers there would have been a six-race card and as it is the second event has been reduced to six starters after eight of the original acceptors were scratched.
And therein lies a twist that needs investigating – but don’t count on that happening.
Waller originally had nine of the 14 acceptors. But within 24 hours of the fields being declared his stable had scratched six of those.
From a punters’ perspective at least this didn’t happen at the 11th hour as was the case with some of his runners last Saturday in the Group 1 Winx Stakes at Randwick.
Our criticism over the late withdrawal of Beiwacht has attracted accusations of ‘Waller bashing’ and those critics have reminded us that Beiwacht had to be scratched because of an elevated temperature.
The LGHR response to that – and a question being asked by many form analysts who wasted their time assessing the Winx on the basis that Beiwacht would inject speed into the race – is this:
Did Stewards simply rely on reports from the Waller vets that Beiwacht had an elevated temperature or did they double check this by sending club vets to the stable?
The reason this question is being asked is that Beiwacht made a fortuitous recovery gaining an almost overnight clearance from the issue in time for him to be sent to Melbourne and join four stablemates as nominations for Saturday’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.
“His blood profile was back to normal (on Monday) and the vets allowed us to gallop him (Tuesday) morning, and he galloped well,” Waller said. “Providing he comes through the work well, we will accept with him on Wednesday.”
Two of the stable’s five Memside noms – Angel Capital and Birdman – ventured to Caulfield on Tuesday morning to gallop on a track softened by overnight rain while Beiwacht was given the thumbs up by Waller to take his place. Buckaroo and Autumn Boy will join that trio.
Riders are yet to be booked, although it has been confirmed champion Sydney jockey James McDonald will be in Melbourne to ride at the Memsie Stakes meeting. Will he will ride Angel Capital or Beiwacht?
“He will be here, but we haven’t worked out what he will be riding,” Waller said. “We will keep a watch on the weather and what transpires.”
Waller, however, has hinted it might be Angel Capital declaring him ‘a Group 1 winner in waiting’ that had come on nicely after his return run in Sydney when third in the Missile Stakes where some felt he was ‘slaughtered’.
“It’s only bad luck that is holding him back from being a multiple Group 1 winner,” Waller said. “He’ll get his chance on Saturday, but I am a little bit concerned about the track.
“His better form is on better tracks, but the beauty of Caulfield is it does dry very well. The 1400 metres is a good distance for him, and he normally runs well at Caulfield.”
Buckaroo, who finished a first-up third in the Memsie last year, will be restricted to shorter trips this campaign. After finishing second to Via Sistina in the Cox Plate, Buckaroo went on to run last in the Melbourne Cup, and while he returned in the autumn, was spelled after two starts.
But back to the ‘mysterious’ scratching of six Waller horses from Race Two at Canterbury today. Will Stewards inquire into the reasons for this and will they send club veterinarians to inspect these horses and not simply rely on reports from stables vets?
Waller still has two runners in the race – the $2.5 favorite Affari (James Macdonald) and $18 debutante Palm Tree (Siena Grima). Cantero from the Hawkes stable looks the logical danger at $2.8.
