WEEKEND RACING RETRO – SATURDAY 23rd May
The Queensland Carnival produced another history making weekend and it again featured Chris Waller. The Champion trainer became the third trainer to reach the historic mark of 200 Group 1 victories joining “Bart” (Cummings) and “The little Master” (Tommy Smith) as the only trainers to achieve that mark in Australia. With the rate that Waller has joined them (18 years) it will not be long before he chases down their record of 246 Group 1 winners.
Once again he reached the milestone with a well-timed ride from James McDonald on Birdman in the Doomben Cup. The race was consistent with recent weight-for-age races with Pride Of Jenni being set alight by Declan Bates and at one stage in the middle stages led by 10 lengths, but riders did not want her to get too far in front and the first to make a move was Jamie Melham on the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours and she closed the gap around the 1000m but he was first beaten on the corner and could not sustain run going to the line for a battling fourth.
James McDonald let the race unfold during the crucial middle stages when riders looked to get closer to Jenni and he allowed Birdman to creep into the race with cover and not doing all that mach work before peeling off heels to middle straightening. He managed to reel in the tiring Pride Of Jenni last 200m and took over soon after dashing clear for a decisive win allowing McDonald to stand up high in the irons and acknowledge the feat of Chris Waller and the combination bought up another Group 1 win.
Pride Of Jenni was as brave as ever holding onto second spot while Vauban ran on solidly to fill the minor placing in the Group 1 Doomben Cup.
Declan Bates had previously produced a masterclass in the Group 2 The Roses, guiding the Ciaron Maher trained Fireball Miss back inside runners to deny Waller/McDonald another Group win with the favourite Chispa. The Roses being the lead-up to the Oaks and that form usually holds up and must be respected when trying to find the winner of the three-years-old fillies classic.
The program was completed with the BRC Sprint over the 1350m and it was the locals that took the prize when the Robert Heathcote trained Abounding broke-through for a well-deserved win. In what was a blanket finish with the first five across the line separated by half a length, Tim Clark was able to weave a passage and finished too well for last stride win.
The Carnival moves “across the road” to Eagle Farm next week with the running of the time honoured Queensland Derby for the three-year-olds over the classic distance of 2400m.