Chris Waller (horse trainer)

Last updated

Chris Waller
Occupation Horse Trainer
Born (1974-03-05) 5 March 1974 (age 50) [1]
Foxton, New Zealand
Honours
New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame
Australian Racing Hall of Fame
Significant horses
Winx, Sacred Falls, Verry Elleegant, Yes Yes Yes, Brazen Beau, Nature Strip

Chris Waller (born 5 March 1974), is a Hall of Fame trainer in Australian Thoroughbred racing best known for training the racemare Winx, a four-time winner of Australian Horse of the Year honours. [2]

Contents

Background

Chris Waller grew up on his parents' dairy farm in Himatangi, near Palmerston North. He became interested in racing watching horses such as Melbourne Cup winner Kiwi and jockeys such as Jimmy Cassidy.

Waller worked for Foxton-based horse trainer, Patrick ("Paddy") Busuttin who was known for his top stayer Castletown. He progressed to stable foreman and when Busuttin moved to Singapore, Waller commenced training on his own account. His first winner was Go Morgan at Trentham Racecourse in 1997. [3]

On 12 February 2000, he won the Group 3 Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m) at Wingatui with Ripon By, for the Dawn Fox's syndicate. [4]


Party Belle

In 1998, Waller took a horse called Party Belle to New South Wales to race. She won three races in Australia, a 2100m maiden at Wyong in September 1998 (ridden by Opie Bosson), followed by a Class 1 and a Class 2 at Kembla Grange before attempting but failing in a listed race at Randwick. Party Belle then raced in New Zealand unsuccessfully before Waller took her back to Sydney the following winter when, she won three more races in May 1999 at Randwick and Warwick Farm, ridden by Larry Cassidy. [5]


Training in Australia

Waller applied for and obtained 20 horse boxes at Rosehill and commenced training there in 2000. Initially he had limited funds but he built his training operation up over time. His first Group 1 winner came in April 2008 when he won the Doncaster Handicap with Triple Honour (NZ).

He extended his operation with stables at Flemington, the Gold Coast and Warwick Farm.

On 24 April 2021, Chris brought up 125 Group 1 victories when Kolding won the All Aged Stakes at Randwick.

On 2 November 2021 Waller won his first Melbourne Cup with his horse Verry Elleegant.

Group 1 Winners (161)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Oliver</span> Australian thoroughbred racing jockey (born 1972)

Damien Oliver is an Australian retired thoroughbred racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver had a successful career until his death in a race fall during the 1975 Kalgoorlie Cup in Western Australia. In 2008, Oliver was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In August 2023 he announced that he would retire at the end of that year's spring carnival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Elizabeth Stakes (ATC)</span> Australian Turf Club horse race at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes, formerly known as the Queen's Plate, AJC Plate, and AJC King's Cup, is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race run over a distance of 2,000 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia, in the autumn during the ATC Championships series. Prize money in 2013 was A$500,000 and was increased to A$4,000,000 in 2014 to become the richest race of the Sydney Autumn Carnival and as of 2020 the third richest WFA race in Australia.

The Vinery Stud Stakes, registered as the Storm Queen Stakes, is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies at set weights run over a distance of 2,000 metres at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. Total prizemoney is A$500,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chipping Norton Stakes</span> Horse race

The Verry Elleegant Stakes, registered as the Chipping Norton Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, run at weight for age, over a distance of 1600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in February or March. Prizemoney is A$1,000,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Charles III Stakes (Australia)</span> Horse race

The King Charles III Stakes, is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions, over a distance of 1600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in September. Total prize money for the race is A$5,000,000.

The Apollo Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race for three years and older, held under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 1400 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in February. Total prize money for the race is A$250,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill Stakes</span> Horse race

The Hill Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race run at Weight for Age over a distance of 2000 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in September. Total prize money for the race is A$2,000,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winx Stakes</span> Horse race

The Winx Stakes, registered as the Warwick Stakes, is a Group 1 Australian Turf Club thoroughbred horse race at Weight for Age, for three-year-olds and older over a distance of 1400 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in August. Prize money is currently A$500,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turnbull Stakes</span> Horse race

The Turnbull Stakes is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race, for horses four years old and older, run under set weights with penalties conditions over a distance of 2,000 metres. The race is held at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in early October. Total prize money is A$1,000,000.

The Kindergarten Stakes, is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Australian Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged two years old, at set weights, over a distance of 1100 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in the autumn during the ATC Championships series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winx (horse)</span> Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Winx is a retired champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse. She won 37 of 43 career starts, including, between May 2015 and her retirement in April 2019, her last 33 races in succession, including 25 Group 1s, at distances ranging from 1300 metres to 2200 metres. In the World's Best Racehorse Rankings, she was the second-ranked filly or mare in 2015, improving in 2016 to become both the world's top-ranked filly or mare and the world's top-ranked turf horse. She retained this ranking in 2017 and in 2018 was co-ranked as the best horse in the world. In 2017 she was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, only the third horse to earn this honour while still in training. Over her career, she earned more than 26 million Australian dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultra Thoroughbred Racing</span>

Ultra Thoroughbred Racing Pty Ltd are breeders of thoroughbred racehorses based in Melbourne, Australia. The company is owned by Sean Buckley, with land holdings in Victoria and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. The business has racing interests primarily in Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Bowman</span> Australian jockey

James Hugh Bowman is an Australian thoroughbred racing jockey. Based in Sydney, Bowman has won the New South Wales Metropolitan Jockey Premiership four times and has ridden 100 Group 1 winners. He was the jockey for Australian champion mare Winx from 2014 through to her retirement in 2019. In 2017, Bowman won the Longines World’s Best Jockey award presented by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The award capped off a year in which he added to his domestic success with international Group 1 wins in Hong Kong and Japan. In 2019, he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, the industry’s highest accolade. Bowman is also renowned for his “She’s Apples” winning salute and his nickname of “the Undisputed Group 1 King”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature Strip (horse)</span> Australian Thoroughbred racehorse

Nature Strip is a retired champion Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 2020 and 2022 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year, a nine-time Group 1 winner, and the winner of The Everest in 2021, the richest turf race in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verry Elleegant</span> New Zealand-bred thoroughbred racehorse (2015–2024)

Verry Elleegant was a New Zealand-bred Australian-trained Thoroughbred racehorse that won 11 Group One races. She was crowned the 2020/2021 Australian Racehorse of the Year, and was the winner of the 2021 Melbourne Cup and 2020 Caulfield Cup.

Addeybb is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He excels over distances of around 2000 metres and is noted for his toughness, consistency and aptitude for racing on soft ground. He did not race as a two-year-old and as a three-year-old in 2017 he won three minor races from five starts before improving in the following year to win the Lincoln Handicap and the Sandown Mile. He made further progress in 2019 when he won the Wolferton Stakes and the Rose of Lancaster Stakes as well as finishing second in the Champion Stakes. As a six-year-old in 2020 he established himself as a world-class middle-distance performer, winning the Ranvet Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Australia before returning to Europe to win the Doonside Cup and the Champion Stakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anamoe</span> Australian thoroughbred racehorse

Anamoe is a retired nine-time Group 1 winning champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse. Affectionately known as "The Big A", Anamoe is considered one of the most decorated Australian produced stallions ever. He is one of only two Australian horses to win Group 1 races at ages 2, 3 and 4 since the 1990s. In 2023 he was named Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James McDonald (jockey)</span> New Zealand jockey

James McDonald is a New Zealand thoroughbred racing jockey and member of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. On 2 November 2021, McDonald rode the winning horse Verry Elleegant in the 2021 Melbourne Cup. He is the World Jockey of the Year for 2021 in the TRC Global Rankings.

The 2021 Melbourne Cup was the 161st running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over 3,200 metres (1.988 mi), was held on 2 November 2021 at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse.

The Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of one and three-eighths miles on the turf held annually in September at Belmont Park, Elmont, New York. The purse for the event is US$500,000.

References

  1. "Chris Waller Profile". racing.com.
  2. "Winx Profile". breednet.com.au.
  3. "From making millions to myth-making, how Kiwi Chris Waller became one of Australia's best-loved sporting identities". 25 January 2020.
  4. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Annual 2000 (29th edition). Bradford, David, Editor. Bradford Publishing Limited, Auckland, New Zealand.
  5. "About Chris Waller".