Waller eyes Everest with mature Joliestar after biggest victory
Craig Kerry
Master trainer Chris Waller is hoping to give Joliestar, who achieved his biggest victory with a career-best streak in the $3 million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m), a third chance at Everest after his campaign at Royal Ascot.
Having changed the order on two Everest runs, Joliestar broke away late to win by half a length from Giga Kick, backing up wins in the Expressway and Canterbury Stakes. The day after Campione D’Italia won the group 1 Inglis Sires (1400m) he handed Waller and jockey James McDonald the group 1 double.
Waller said before the race that Joliestar was now a mature five-year-old and had proven his fifth group 1 and biggest check at TJ. Now Queen Elizabeth II at Royal Ascot in June. Elizabeth heads to Royal Ascot to contest the Jubilee Stakes and Waller was hoping the owners of Cambridge Stud wanted to target the $20 million Everest in October.
“I would do it,” Waller said of competing on Everest.
“That’s the difference between this year and last year. Last year he was able to put out another generation, then the wide draws and luck in the run also got the better of him most of the time, but he’s never too far away. He’s just matured.”
Campione D’Italia previously had a strong finish with a fourth-place finish in the Golden Slipper and a three-quarter victory at Sires. Waller will have a shot at another group 1, the Champagne Stakes (1600m), in two weeks.
“We’ll see how he gets through this,” he said.
“Obviously it’s important to win both. He’ll go a mile, but only if he’s ready for it.”
“He’s a lovely colt, he’s got raw talent, a lot of energy, but when you get him under control he can do big things.”
Gerry Harvey, breeder and part owner of Campione D’Italia, who previously won the Country Championship with Chidiac, then stole the show.
“I conveyed this and [Newgate’s] Henry Field and I talked and I said, ‘I want 600, man,’ and he said, ‘I’ll give you 500,’ and I said, ‘get lost,’ but then I thought no, I might as well do that, so I kept the 20 percent,” Waller said.
“Then one of the girls I’ve been working with for 20 years asked me, can I get 10 percent? She’s never had a horse in her life, and it ended up with Campione D’Italia, the Italian champion. Now she’s Campione D’Randwick.”
Emotional win from Cavanoughs
Georgie Cavanough says his “soft” dad Brett told him “don’t cry” after winning the $1 million Country Championship final with Chidiac at Randwick on Saturday, just six months into their training partnership.
But the person who would burst into tears was the father.
“To do it today with Georgie, I have to try to keep it together a little bit, in a very special way,” Scone trainer and former world record-breaking cutter said after Hong Kong-based star Zac Purton led Chidiac to a long victory over Graceful Ellen.
“He tipped her all week, he trusted her.”
This was the first Country Championship for Cavanough, who won the $2 million Kosciuszko in 2020 for It’s Me but had only two finalists in the country series before making it three with her daughter this year.
“It was incredible, I can barely breathe, I’m shaking,” Georgie said.
“I stuck with him, I called him Chidiac all week, I said his class would take him a long way, he would question the distances but he is such a classy horse.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. My father said don’t cry.”
King takes Newlook for Cup defense
Rachel King doubled the early stakes race and won the Sydney Cup ride as Newlook claimed the group 2 Presidents Quality (2600m) for Cranbourne trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.
King rode the Bjorn Baker-trained, John Singleton-owned starter Blue Door to victory in the group 3 Kindergarten Stakes for two-year-olds (1100m) in the first and backed up in the third, overtaking the five-year-old Newlook on the outside to win the President race by a quarter of a length from Campaldino.
King, who won the Sydney Cup last year on the now-retired Arapaho, was keen to stay with Newlook in group 1 over 3200m next week.
“He’s going to make good progress again,” King said.
“I galloped him on Tuesday and he got out of it [fifth in the Manion Cup] “And I thought he was definitely ready to step up today.”
Asked if he had entered the Cup race before the win, he said: “No, I was waiting to see how it goes, so I’ll probably ride it. I thought it would go well.”
The win eased the pain for Busuttin and Young, who lost Arcora a week earlier when he broke down and was euthanised in the Tulloch Stakes at Rosehill.
Baker was unsure of the next step for Blue Door, a $400,000-a-year acquisition from the stable of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott a month ago. Favorite Next Chapter, a $2.8 million colt, eased away and powered home by a half-neck second.
Bush’s trainer took a break
Autumn Break showed resilience to give Albury trainer Kym Davison a memorable first city win and consolation prize in the group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m).
Autumn Break, the first emergency in the $1 million Country Championships final (1400m), instead ran in the three-year-old race and held off late to beat Kilman by a nose under Sam Clipperton.
“The city’s first winner, not a bad winner to break the ice,” Davison said.
“We were hoping to be in the next race but that’s a big consolation. The horse has been bred to run for 2000 years, so we’re trying to keep him a little bit fresh through the 1400s.”
Fall Break, a $40,000 buyout for Davison and a group of friends, will now cast the spell and return in the spring, when the $2 million Kosciuszko looms large.
Davision, who has eight employees and has been training since 2000, said Autumn Break had bounced back after crashing into the barriers and fracturing his eye socket before finishing third in the Country series qualifying race at Wagga on February 28.
Autumn Glow moves towards Queen Elizabeth
Owner John Messara is hoping for a dry finish for next week’s Autumn Glow in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes despite the unbeaten filly putting in a smooth run on the soft 7 track on Saturday.
James McDonald took Autumn Glow for a 1000m dash between races at Randwick as light rain fell. He ran 1:04:98 for the trip and 36:04 for the final 600 meters. Messara said he was very pleased with McDonald’s smooth gallop, with him walking well and changing legs.
“Hopefully we get a good track next week, we’re glad we didn’t run today,” the Arrowfield Stud boss said.
“It’s not a bad track, but he always said, the day you see it on a solid track, you’ll see something different.”
Trainer Chris Waller said Autumn Glow “had a pretty good workout, she’s very clear against the wind and she’s ready to run a strong 2000 meters.”
Waller said Lindermann, Wootton Verni and Ranvet-Tancred Stakes winner Aeliana, who “looked great” after a short break, were also likely to race in the Queen Elizabeth.
