Waller knows what’s best for Winx as she heads toward the end
Source: SMH /
Chris Waller doesn’t like being called a horseman. He defers that title to others, but he should never be doubted when it comes to racing on with Winx.
The result of Saturday’s Apollo Stakes – another win, 30 in a row – showed the mare is still without peer, yet Waller was at pains to explain his feelings about racing her on.
“It’s been our decision to push on a bit further and there are always the challenges involved in that and how people perceive it,” he said. “But I think it’s for the better for racing that she is here.”
Waller monitors Winx closely and wouldn’t test the boundaries if she showed any signs of trailing off.
Winx offers a different scenario to what usually happen with horses going into retirement. So often we are robbed of seeing the best of colts, which are whisked off to stud for financial reasons.
She has been a recordbreaker and is arguably still near her peak as the race record showed. In a time when interest in racing is waning, she invites the public back to thetrack.
Her marvellous winning run, and dominance in doing so, sparks interest that only an elite performer can.
Waller has managed her career brilliantly, never tempted to go one run too far and that is why, as a seven-year-old, she is breaking race records and winning Cox Plates. There is a care in his training that puts the horse before anything else.
“I only ever want the horses to come home safe, but if I was that fearful of that stuff I wouldn’t have any runners,” Waller said.
