Waller and Waikato combine for Ocean Park quinella
The 2012 Cox Plate winner is proving a versatile stallion and he continued his rise with the George Main 1-2 yesterday
The success of training juggernaut Chris Waller continued unabated in Sydney’s George Main Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) as Waikato Stud stallion Ocean Park (Thorn Park) recorded his first Group 1 quinella while, in Melbourne, the remarkable record of jockey Craig Williams and his family grew in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m). That was the tale of yesterday’s Group 1 racing in Australia.
Waller won the George Main for the seventh time (in the past nine years) with Kolding (Ocean Park) while Williams’ success on the David Jolly-trained Behemoth (All Too Hard) was his sixth in the Caulfield Group 1 – a record he now shares with contemporary Damien Oliver – and an eighth for the family as his father Allan won the race in 1979, as a jockey, and also in 1993 as a trainer.
Both Kolding and Behemoth, along with yesterday’s The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), contested 2019’s inaugural $7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) for four-year-olds, finishing first, fourth and tenth respectively.
The day’s action centred on those wins along with the fact that Waller’s four runners filled the first four placings in the Randwick feature; South Australian trainers trifectaed the Clarke with Tony and Calvin McEvoy-prepared siblings Dollar For Dollar (High Chaparral) and Pretty Brazen (Brazen Beau) second and third respectively, while Danny O’Brien claimed a Caulfield treble including the Naturalism Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) with Orderofthegarter (Galileo) who is now ballot-exempt from the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).
The New Zealand-bred Kolding (5 g Ocean Park – Magic Star by Danzero) provided Waller with his 113th Group 1 win, a staggering tally in just 13 years since his permanent move to Sydney.
Kolding led home a 1-2-3-4 for the trainer. This was the second time Waller has trained the first four placegetters in a Randwick 1600-metre feature as the trainer prepared Sacred Falls (O’Reilly) to beat stablemates Royal Descent (Redoute’s Choice), Weary (Astronomer Royal) and Hawkspur (Purrealist) in the 2014 Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m).
The five-year-old won by a long neck from the unfortunate Star Of The Seas (Ocean Park), who was shuffled back in the straight before charging home for second. A further head behind the runner-up was Imaging (Oasis Dream), with a length back to the most market fancied of the Waller quartet, Verry Elleegant (Zed) – each New Zealand-bred bar Imaging and that was appropriate enough on a day when there was no shortage of success for those from Waller’s country of birth.
Probabeel (4 m Savabeel – Far Fetched by Pins) was among the most impressive winners of the afternoon as she remained unbeaten on good ground in 2020 after her excellent performance in the Bill Ritchie Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) for owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay of Cambridge Stud.
Between Ocean Park’s quinella and the win of Probabeel, the star daughter of Waikato’s banner stallion Savabeel, it was a day to remember at Randwick for the leading New Zealand property.
Throw in a victory to the Waikato-bred and owned Fabric (Ocean Park) at Caulfield, coming hot on the heels of a Waikato Stud double at Newcastle on Friday with blueblood Bargain (Ocean Park) breaking her maiden and the late Sacred Falls recording his first stakes winner with All Saints’ Eve in the Tibbie Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m), and a banner 24 hours for the farm was complete.
“The last 24 hours have certainly been very exciting,” Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “There are the two fillies at Newcastle, especially picking up that Group 3 race early on in her career, and with a filly that’s got a good pedigree as she does.
“Probabeel has just stamped her class. She’s really getting up there as one of the best racehorses we’ve bred, what with what she’s done and what she could do.
“And then you’ve got to take your hat off to Chris Waller and his team. Kolding gave us a couple of huge thrills last year and obviously in more recent times there’s been a bit of reason for concern but Chris said, ‘Leave it to me, I’ll work him out,’ and it just goes to show what a master horseman he is to get him back to form and win so strongly.
“You’ve got to feel a little sorry for Star Of The Seas every now and then. I’m sure he’ll get one and he’ll really deserve his turn when it does come.”
For Ocean Park, he now has a live contender for the world’s richest race on turf, the $15 million The Everest (1200m), with Tofane, while he also has the only ballot-exempt runner in this year’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) with Andrew Ramsden Stakes (Listed, 2800m) heroine Oceanex.
As he begins his eighth season at stud, the 2012 Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) winner is finally starting to receive recognition as a potent producer of tough, versatile horses.
“It was a huge thrill to get the quinella for Ocean Park, who is really starting to show his incredible versatility,” Chittick said. “It really is remarkable, he’s got one of the best sprinters in Australia in Tofane, with Kolding one of the best miler, middle distance horses in the country and he’s got a qualifier for the Melbourne Cup.
“The start of his career at stud, to be honest, was frustrating. He had three very, very close seconds in Group 1s (with Mongolianconqueror, Another Dollar and Arrogant). In two of them they nearly had to go to a second photo to determine them. To run second in the New Zealand Derby, Queensland Oaks and Rosehill Guineas, in your first couple of crops, if that had been the other way around he would have been flying and away we go. But it did give us confidence that his numbers and age and maturity all came about, we were very confident it would fall into place.
“For a stallion who was a freakish racehorse, a real tough racehorse, in winning five Group 1 races like he did .. when we won the Cox Plate, he gave a massive amount of weight to Pierro and All Too Hard so he had to be incredibly tough. We could see he’d passed it on and now it’s just all falling into place. They are tough, durable racehorses that just keep going.”
Ocean Park stands for NZ$20,000 (plus GST), third on the list of Waikato Stud stallions behind newcomer Super Seth (Dundeel) at NZ$35,000 (plus GST), as well as six-time New Zealand champion sire Savabeel (Zabeel), whose fee stands at NZ$100,000 (plus GST).
The win of Probabeel in the Bill Ritchie continued a strong start to the season for Savabeel, with the Jamie Richards-trained mare now second favourite for the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) after her easy win yesterday.
“I think this season in particular is shaping up to be one of Savabeel’s best ever,” said Chittick. “The three-year-olds that are showing up already are quite remarkable. Just last week we saw Mo’unga as well as the filly of our own, ANZ Maiden of the Week Cornflower Blue, she won by six and a half lengths and heads towards the New Zealand 1000 Guineas. Then there’s Tanaawol for the Hayes stable too. Certainly his three-year-olds are shaping up as a freakish crop of horses for Savabeel.
“Probabeel, she’s really starting to join the best horses that we’ve ever bred. I think she’s in for a massive spring and autumn too.”
While Kolding’s return to form and Verry Elleegant’s ‘failure’ may have surprised some, Waller was happy to defend both horses – especially the winner, who has amassed more than $5 million in earnings in 12 months since winning the Ritchie on this day last year and followed up with victories in the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and the inaugural Golden Eagle.
“He certainly has proved he’s back today although in my mind he never left,” Waller said of Kolding. “You don’t win these races unless you are right, we stick to plans and try to make things unfold and it’s worked out.
“This was the first time, for some time, he was racing right-handed from a good draw on a good track. He went to Melbourne in the autumn but he doesn’t like it left handed and then struck heavy tracks back here (in Sydney).”
Waller, who has quinellaed the George Main five times, qualified the horse’s aversion to left-handed racing when he said it may have been more Caulfield than simply clockwise racing.
“I wouldn’t rule out running him at Flemington or Moonee Valley as we follow a weight-for-age path as he may have too much weight in the Epsom,” he said.
“All four ran well, including Verry Elleegant,” Waller added. “She got buried in on the fence and then got into a tricky spot which made it hard when they’re running 1:33. She hasn’t been there (inside horses) for a long time and stepping up to 2000 meters now, she’ll be fine.”
Waller’s success has grown apace since 2010-11 when he became champion trainer for the first time in Sydney. Soon after, in 2012-13, he broke the legendary T J Smith’s 37-year-old record of 156 winners in town.
In 2017-18, he trained 189 city winners, 95 ahead of runner-up James Cummings. He’s trained a double figure tally of Group 1 winners in four of the past six seasons, including a remarkable 18 in the 2018/19 season, and his momentum hardly slowed last season, even after the retirement of champion mare Winx (Street Cry), as his horses earned more than $44 million during the 2019-20 season and he won nine Group 1s plus the $15 million The Everest and the Golden Eagle.
Behemoth, Orderofthegarter shine at Caulfield
At Caulfield, Williams was naturally delighted to win the Sir Rupert Clarke on Behemoth (5 g All Too Hard – Penny Banger by Zedrich) who defied top weight of 60 kilograms with a stunning late burst of acceleration. Williams’ previous winners were Barely A Moment (Gilded Time), Rewaaya (Singspiel), Response (Charge Forward), Toorak Toff (Show A Heart) and Stratum Star (Stratum).
“Full credit to David Jolly and his team and Sam Lyons’ Grand Syndicates,” Williams said. “He’s a big fellow so he’s well-named and an awesome horse who made my job easier, his performance was excellent and he really did launch late.
“I’m just lucky that it’s been a really good race for me and my family as my father won it as a jockey and a trainer. It’s been challenging times lately, especially in Victoria, and we’re fortunate we can showcase these great thoroughbred athletes. He was the best horse in the race and his mental aptitude is really coming through now.”
Jolly, confined to South Australia given Covid-19 travel restrictions, described the horse as “a dream come true”.
“To see what he’s doing at the moment it’s amazing,” he said. “I just wish I was there, but it was great watching it on the couch with the family, too. It’s an amazing feeling winning these races with him now. He’s a fantastic horse.”
Notwithstanding the elevated minimum of 54 kilograms, it is worth noting that Behemoth successfully carried the highest weight since Tauto (Good Brandy) lumped 9 stone 10 ounces, approximately 62 kilograms, in 1971.
Grand Syndicates paid just $6,000 for Behemoth at the 2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale – less than a year after he sold for $120,000 from the Tyreel Stud draft at the 2016 Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale Platinum Session.
Oliver, on the 30th anniversary of his first Group 1 success aboard Submariner (Sea Anchor) in the Rupert Clarke, did win the Naturalism Stakes for the fourth time to join Frank Reys as the most successful jockey in that race. Orderofthegarter joined Red Lord (Redoute’s Choice), Rose Archway (Archway) and Golden Serpent (Cobra) as an Oliver-ridden winner of the race.
Oliver told Racing.com: “I knew I was going well – he can just travel a little bit keen. We wanted to use the barrier today and the first 400 there were probably a few of us vying, it just made him a little bit keen.
“I didn’t want to be handing up too much, so I had to maintain a prominent position. You’ve got to remember that it was only his third run in three years, so he’s still got improvement to come.
“He’s snuck into a great race with a really good weight.”
Oliver will not be able to make Orderofthegarter’s light weight in the Caulfield Cup, with O’Brien suggesting that Daniel Moor could be a logical booking on the Lloyd Williams-owned import.
“I’ll speak to Lloyd and Nick Williams and we’ll see,” O’Brien said. “I know Daniel Moor has been riding him in all of his gallops and he declared him in this race about 10 days ago after he worked with King Of Leogrance on the course proper.
“He’d certainly put his hand up to get down to 50 kilos.
“Orderofthegarter is coming off a two-year layoff. Each run he’s just found a little bit and I think there’s still more to come towards the Caulfield Cup next time.
“He came to us very well. He’d obviously had a decent break, but he came to us sound and fit and we’ve built him up from scratch. He’s a lovely horse, a good-looking son of Galileo – very genuine. He tries really hard every time you send him out there.
“We’re very lucky to be getting these Williams horses. World-class horses, beautifully bred and it’s all clicking at the moment.”