Weir’s number of winners show he’s in a league of his own
Whether it’s a shake of the head in sheer amazement at what seems to be his ever-growing winner’s factory or the mate beseeching another simply not to leave the Weir trained runners out of any leg of the quaddie.
Glancing at trainer’s tables and the like is the sort of thing you have time to do while laying on the beach in Bali. Currently it shows that the man from Berriwillock has trained 362 winners for the season which is, incredibly, 108 more than his nearest rival Chris Waller who similarly prepares a mammoth number.
Not that I can tell you precisely how may each of them trains as Australian racing authorities are absurdly coy about releasing such information. “You’d have to seek permission from each individual trainer,” I was told. It really should be a matter of public record. I suspect Weir has more.
Weir’s tally of winners is almost double that of James Cummings and the Hayes, Hayes, Dabernig team. Cummings’ strike rate, incidentally, is considerably better than the others in the top echelon which ought to silence his naysayers.
But back to the Weir juggernaut. This time, last year, he became the first trainer in Australian racing history to train 400 winners in a season. He finished that racing year with 449 winners which is just 24 shy of Aidan O’Brien’s total of flat winners in Ireland over the past FIVE seasons.
Last Saturday, he trained his mandatory metropolitan treble at Flemington and landed the Group One Schweppes Oaks with Sopressa and these winners come without him calling on the usual ‘go to’ jockeys.
The week before he, of course, dominated the Warrnambool carnival yet again with 12 winners for the three-day meeting and he claimed the Warrnambool Cup for the fifth year straight.
You wonder how he does it and whether there’s ever been a training colossus quite like him?
To the former, and those who observe him closely will tell you that it is his extraordinary understanding of his horses despite the numbers. Even rival trainers. “I’m not sure that he knows every staff member by name but I’d swear he knows every horse,” said Ballarat training neighbour Dan O’Sullivan.
As to whether his dominance is unprecedented, I suspect it is despite Colin Hayes regularly training 250 winners a year, where there were fewer races, through his heyday. It was 33 years ago now that he did prepare a then remarkable one season record 285 winners (1985).
It’s likely that Weir’s impact will continue to rise with a greater participation at the yearling sales over the past two years given a relatively limited number of juvenile winners through his career. And what if his expansion demands major set-ups in other states which seems more likely than not?
It’ll be no shock, over the next decade, if the Weir numbers grow and grow to rival the extraordinary winner tallies posted in USA racing including Steve Asmussen’s 650 in 2009.
Waller, of course, still has him covered at the top end with 56 Group One winners to Weir’s 26 in the past five seasons but the graph is plotting very much Weir’s way with the score just 19-16 in favour of Waller this season and last.
Meanwhile, I have discovered you can get a drinkable Pinot Noir in Bali without paying a fortune. It’s the Two Islands Pinot Noir – for around $25. It’s locally produced but allegedly from grapes grown on South Australia’s Limestone Coast. Like a Mill Park yearling, then, it’s gotta be good.
Canggu and Berawa are definitely the ‘hip’ places to stay now in Bali. Forget Kuta and Seminyak. And if you fancy going to Nusa Lembongan, which is great and a little more Thai beach holiday in style, you better message me regarding the ferries. The one from Serangan is fun but not as straight-forward as going from Sanur.
Next week, I’ll report in from the Asian Racing Conference in Seoul. Won’t that be fun. Then I fancy trying to find some horse racing in Sri Lanka and India. I’ll keep you posted.
Regards,
Steve.