Chris Waller said having Winx ready to peak for the second time in a preparation had more to do with the filly than his training methods. Photo / Thinkstock
Chris Waller said having Winx ready to peak for the second time in a preparation had more to do with the filly than his training methods. Photo / Thinkstock
Rosehill horseman Chris Waller was hailed as a genius but modesty kept the Sydney trainer from accepting the credit for Winx making a one-act affair of the Queensland Oaks at Doomben on Saturday.
Instead, he said Winx should be admired for her resilience as well as her obvious brilliance overa distance.
Winx raced through the Sydney autumn carnival but there was no evidence a long campaign had taken its toll as she strolled clear for a 3-length victory over 2200m that gave Waller his 13th group one success for the season.
The filly is raced by a syndicate headed by Brisbane businessman Peter Tighe and his wife, Patti, who have long wanted to win a group one race in their home town.
"Chris is a genius. To get a filly to win an Oaks on one lead-up run shows how good a trainer he is," Tighe said.
Winx ran second on a wet track in the ATC Australian Oaks in April and she emerged as the horse to beat on Saturday with a last-to-first win in the Sunshine Coast Guineas.
Waller said having Winx ready to peak for the second time in a preparation had more to do with the filly than his training methods.
"I don't look at it that way with good horses. After she ran second in the Australian Oaks, I sat down with my staff and said it was going to be hard to make Brisbane. But we did it and a quality filly like her just needs to be kept fit without being flattened."
