What does Chris Waller think of John O’Shea raising the white flag?
“I take no notice whatsoever.”
Less than 24 hours after O’Shea declared Hartnell can’t beat Winx in Saturday’s G1 $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes, Waller faced a media scrum at Rosehill, and suggested the Godolphin camp may be “trying to catch us off our guard.”
“(Hartnell) still deserves respect. It’s always easy to go in as the underdog and maybe they’re just trying to catch us off our guard,” Waller said.
Winx shone in yet another track gallop at Rosehill on Thursday, with both Waller and Hugh Bowman revealing she’s come on well from her first-up romp in the Apollo.
“She had a fairly solid gallop on Tuesday so she didn’t have to do too much this morning,” Waller said. “Physically I couldn’t be happier, she maintained her weight… (that) suggests she’s muscled up and strengthened up a little bit more.”
“With barrier 4 on Saturday, it’s a beautiful draw for her… and the race looks like it’s going to set up well for her,” Bowman added, “She’s more relaxed in her demeanour and that suggests to me she’s where she needs to be at this stage of the preparation.”
Relaxed she was, even stopping in the mounting yard and posing for the cameras with her strapper Umut Odemislioglu.
Whether Winx is tested over her entire autumn campaign remains to be seen. A lack of international runners will no doubt make win number 15 straight, and beyond, easier to achieve.
But Waller understands why they’re not here.
“It’s very hard when they’re coming out to take on a horse that’s rated the best in world on grass. It’s hard for a trainer and connections to come thinking they may come second,” he said.
The biggest challenge this time in may come in form of a local rival, with Chautauqua’s connections still weighing up a showdown with Winx in the George Ryder on March 18. It’s a contest Waller welcomes.
“It’s good to go into a challenge when you’ve got the right horse, it’s great for racing, it’s great for Winx’s promotion and we’d welcome it,” he said.
The immediate focus however is clocking up the 15th straight win, and a 10th career Group 1 in the Chipping Norton.
The 25mm of rain expected on Saturday no concern for Waller, who’s expecting Randwick to be “the perfect racing surface.”
“If it’s not rain, it’s probably a bit of irrigation put on the track anyway,” he said.
“The track’s in Sydney have improved over the last six months, particularly the Randwick track. It’s giving me a bit more confidence to know it can handle a bit more rain and should be the perfect racing surface.”
