Chris Waller can see a bit of himself in Winx
The routine for champion trainer Chris Waller doesn’t change for 52 weeks a year. It has been the same for the past couple of decades.
He is meticulous in the way he goes about his business. Serious, professional, a winner.
Then along came Winx.
‘‘I see a normal horse. I know inside that horse is a determination to rise to every challenge,’’ Waller said. ’’I see purpose when she goes about her job, and I have said that right from the start. She is a very serious horse.
‘‘She doesn’t need any fuss or anything special but you just see purpose when she’s being worked with. Going on the track, off the track. Before a gallop, after a gallop. Before a race she is actually the same.
‘‘Maybe that’s why I see in her a bit of myself.’’
The Street Cry mare has delivered 14 of Waller’s 73 Group I wins but she has delivered much to the shy lad from New Zealand, who came to Australia with a dream.
Winx carries the expectation of a sporting nation as she runs in the Cox Plate on Saturday. She is looking for her 22nd consecutive win, a third win in the race that is defined by the champions that have won it.
Only Kingston Town has done that before – not Phar Lap, he only won it twice.
She could match Black Caviar’s Group I tally and break Makybe Diva’s prizemoney record. The only other horses, both mares, to bring horse racing into the mainstream in the 21st century.
Make no mistake Waller is very, very good at the training caper.