He didn’t win the major race on the program, but Chris Waller has taken out training honours on George Main Stakes day at Randwick with a quartet of winners.
Three of those came in stakes races with Funstar a narrow winner of the Group Two Tea Rose Stakes (1400m), Kolding taking out the Group Three Bill Ritchie Stakes (1400m) and Finche firming to equal favourite for the Melbourne Cup with his win in the Group Three Kingston Town Stakes (2000m).
Classy mare Sweet Scandal rounded out Waller’s haul with a surprise first-up victory in the E-Group Security Handicap (1200m) for apprentice Brock Ryan, despite being given no favours from a wide gate.
“We scratched last week due to the wide draw and she drew wider today but to Brock’s credit he didn’t panic, he took her back a bit further than I thought she might be and got her into a nice rhythm,” Waller said.
Sweet Scandal was specked at long odds to start $26 and came from back in the field to overhaul Improvement ($13) by a head with $3.30 favourite Greyworm another half-neck away.
Waller is happy to see his stable hitting form just as the spring carnival is about to heat up with the Golden Rose next Saturday and three Group One races at Randwick seven days later.
“The next few weeks are pretty exciting with a Golden Rose, Epsom, Metropolitan, a Flight, they’re all within the next two weeks,” Waller said.
“And then we’ve got Melbourne to look forward to as well.”