Few can claim to have trained a winner for His Majesty The King, but Chris Waller can now tick his bucket one last time after the enigmatic Chalk Stream emerged victorious in the Listed Australia Day Cup at Warwick Farm.
Waller has achieved most in racing, highlighted by his association with Winx Champion, but he continues to produce career-firsts.
He forged a special relationship with the late Queen Elizabeth, who had given him the last year to train at Chalk Stream, and such was his relationship with the monarch, he was one of a handful of Australians invited to her funeral. Although he could not attend it.
Ownership of Chalk Stream was transferred to King Charles III following the death of his mother and the horse finally put his best foot forward on Thursday, rounding the field before the corner and taking Regan Bellis comfortably to take out the feature race Made a clear boundary below.
Waller was not on-course, but his assistant, Charlie Duckworth, said the feat at Chalk Stream would have humbled the Sydney champion trainer.
Duckworth said, “Chris has had a lot of highlights in his career but I would say it would be right up there.”
“He turned it into a real survival test today and he was in the lead.
“It is a great thrill to have a horse in training, let alone to win a good race like today.”
The Chalk Stream has royal colors of purple with gold braiding, scarlet sleeves and a black velvet cap with gold fringe.
Duckworth said it was an honor to have the famous silk sport horse at the yard.
“They are obviously incredibly special and with Her Majesty the Queen passing away, and now having passed on to the King himself, it is a very special day and one that we will all remember,” he said.
While Chalk Stream had a habit of missing starts, he jumped on conditions in the Australia Day Cup (2400 metres) and with a solid pace, Bayliss was content to bide his time and lead the horse back into the field.
The gelding began to creep into the race from 800m out and Chalk Stream ($21) moved up to the leaders at the corner, his superior stamina kicking in as he drew with Military to score by three lengths over Spirit Ridge ($4.80 fav) There was a clear increase for The Mission ($6.50) is battling for third.
Bayliss said, “Talking to the previous jockeys, they’ve had little questions about him, a little bit of weirdness and quirks, but yeah, he was well behaved today.”
“When he hit the front at the top of the straight it was hard to put him down.”
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