A day on from Verry Elleegant’s triumph at the Melbourne Cup, her Kiwi trainer Chris Waller couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.
“Until yesterday she was considered a very good horse but after yesterday’s win she's considered a champion.”
And not just any champion, but one that defied an unfavourable barrier draw, one that had to carry an extra 57kgs to make weight, and up until three days before racing, might not have even run.
“We only made the decision to run Verry Elleegant on Saturday afternoon at 3.30pm, the cut-off point is 4pm,” Waller told 1News on Wednesday.
“She was Australia's horse of the year last year and in my opinion, you need to respect that and preserve it. She didn't deserve to be running in a Melbourne Cup if she couldn't run credibly.
Verry Elleegant claimed the famous race in front of just 10,000 punters at Flemington. (Source: Other)
“(The owners) were very supportive, they weren't pushing either way and we made the joint decision to say look if there’s nothing wrong we'll consider running her. But if there’s one thing out of place she doesn't run. I rung them at 3.30 and said look, nothing is out of place she's spot on! Let’s run.”
And boy did she run.
Not only chasing down race-favourite Incentivise on the final straight, but widening the gap as she crossed the line.
“There’s nothing you can simulate in training (to prepare for the final stretch). It's like the All Blacks putting their black jumper on and in that final 20 minutes of an 80-minute game of rugby, that's when the class prevails. So we were hoping it was there and sure enough with 300 to run she excelled.”
And a lot of that is down to jockey, and fellow Kiwi James MacDonald.
“A little boy from NZ coming over (to Australia) with a dream. He just nailed it, and conserved (her) energy. Saved up the carrots so to speak.”
Waller, like many other trainers and regular race goers, was unable to be at Flemington for his maiden Melbourne Cup win as a result of a cruel Covid blow.
But the alternative of watching from his Sydney home with close family a unique, and special way to mark the milestone.
“Nothing better than to watch it with Steph my wife, and my two children Tyler and Nikita. They're always asking the question “oh we haven't won the Melbourne Cup. We need to win the Melbourne Cup”, and I just basically say “nah it's just another race don't worry about that.”
Just another race or not, he’s now a Melbourne Cup-winning trainer, to go along with 130 Grade One wins, adding to the legacy of his greatest ever horse, retired runner Winx.
“She was the greatest, but she didn't win a Melbourne Cup. And for the everyday person you need to win a Melbourne Cup.”
“She will be coming back to Sydney where I'm based in the next few days. She's actually going on holiday to the farm! But we might get her to divert into the stables on the way and she can do a little parade here for all the staff and the cup can come up and we can enjoy a few moments together.”
A few moments to reflect on one of their, and New Zealand’s greatest races.
A Kiwi bred horse, a Kiwi jockey and a Kiwi trainer. It doesn’t get much better than that.
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