Winx's trainer Chris Waller, who enjoyed Royal Ascot success last week with the blistering Nature Strip, answers the questions
After resisting repeated overtures to take the mighty mare Winx overseas, Australia’s premier trainer Chris Waller fulfilled a long-cherished ambition when he made his Royal Ascot breakthrough with Nature Strip’s outstanding victory in the King’s Stand Stakes.
A dairy farmer’s son from Foxton, New Zealand, Waller is clearly the dominant force in Australian racing. The 49-year-old trained his first winner in New Zealand in 1997 before moving his business three years later to Rosehill in Sydney, where he initially rented 20 boxes with little financial backing.
Moving gradually up the ranks, he trained his first G1 winner in 2008 and hasn’t looked back since, winning the last 11 premierships in New South Wales with a succession of stars headed by the legendary Winx, who won 33 successive races including an incredible 25 at G1 level.
Last year he trained Nature Strip to win the Everest, the world’s richest turf race; he also saddled 11-time G1-winning mare Verry Elleegant to win the Melbourne Cup.
Which racing figure, past or present, do you most admire?
There are several. I am in awe of those previous great jockeys and trainers, the ones that made me dream about racing. It’s too hard to mention names because there have been so many great people. Basically that is why I am in racing. I was amazed by it. Along the way I have been able to meet a few of these people and it’s been a humbling experience to catch up with those that you admire so much. That’s what racing does. It brings people together and people are accessible.
In terms of naming a person I would have to say from where I am now [in Britain] Aidan O’Brien, for the way he meticulously runs a big operation working with the calibre of horses and clients he has. I am very much in awe of what he has achieved and continues to achieve.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
The great carnivals are parallel to each other and if you have big-race success during those carnivals it certainly puts them on a high pedestal. From my perspective in Australia I’d have to say it is my home track of Rosehill. It’s a beautiful track. By Australian standards it’s a fair track with decent straight, a good circumference and our horses love racing there. There is racing 26 weeks of the year, including some of the biggest races in Australia.
There have been so many great memories but I’m happy to go to any of the feature tracks. Royal Ascot is an example of that. When I first came with Brazen Beau I got quite emotional when he walked around the parade ring in such a picturesque place.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
That would be Winx. Why, would be simply because she was very fast and ran fast for a long time. She was a lovely horse to work with, very straightforward, very sound but what she could do year in, year out, was simply amazing, basically going unbeaten for four years. The higher we raised the bar, the higher she went. She was a very special horse and always will be in our hearts.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
Winning the King’s Stand Stakes with Nature Strip is in my top five, but I think it has to be training my first G1 winner, which was Triple Honour in 2008 at Royal Randwick. He won the Doncaster, which has been a very good race to us.
That win gave me the confidence to know that I didn’t need to change anything. Our system was working efficiently and it just needed the right horses to come along. I was well into my training career. I’d been in Australia for at least eight years and finally had that G1 winner. We’ve been lucky enough to win quite a few G1 races on the back of that.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
It would simply be that the work starting times in Australia change. They are not social; they do not provide longevity to the workers and it is not a healthy nor sustainable lifestyle. It’s really hit home since I’ve been in England over the past week. The stable staff over here are fantastic.
They just live for their horses, as my team does in Australia – but they basically start at 6am instead of 3.30am. Yes, they finish later, so it therefore becomes part of their life. They go back in afternoons and evenings to do their jobs so they work similar hours but in my opinion more social hours. It still gives them a chance to have dinner with their family, go out with their mates and still be fresh and safe for the morning.
I’ve tried unsuccessfully to encourage other trainers to put their starting times back and there is growing support for it. It’s my one desire in racing.
Chris Waller was speaking to Jon Lees
• View the entire What They're Thinking series
Royal Ascot review: watch all the action as world #1 Baaeed keeps top spot
Larry Collmus: With a few exceptions, track grandstands are empty
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires