When it comes to learning what it takes to win the nation's biggest 2-year-old event, the Golden Slipper, Rosehill trainer Chris Waller says he's had the best teachers.
And with the dominant first-up win of Jade Marauder in the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale Plate (1200m) at Canterbury on Saturday,Waller unveiled one of the youngsters he hopes can help him beat those teachers on April 7.
"The beauty of training in Sydney is that you are training against the best trainers in the world," Waller told the Herald-Sun.
"Peter Snowden, Gai Waterhouse, John Hawkes is my next-door neighbour at Rosehill. Bart Cummings, Clarry Conners and there are plenty more I haven't named.
"If you can't learn from them there is something wrong."
Jade Marauder made her debut back in the spring with a solid third in the Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) in October and showed she has improved by overcoming a wide draw and winning with plenty in hand on Saturday.
The win of Jade Marauder brought up a race-to-race double for Waller and jockey Glyn Schofield after the performance of Nocturnelle.
Waller said the listed Widden Stakes (1100m) at Warwick Farm on February 18 would be the next step for Jade Marauder. "There's no rush, the goal is to be running in the Golden Slipper and performing well," he said. Schofield believes Jade Marauder can be a force.
"I think they are going to have a lot of fun with her," he said. "She's going to improve over a tad further and will benefit from the experience."
Meanwhile, Waterhouse was rapt with the performance of her debutant Rampaging to finish third after being unable to sprint with the winner.
She said the colt will press on towards the carnival but the runner-up Almighty Charge will be sent to the paddock with a winter preparation in mind. "It was a good performance by Rampaging, Canterbury is a tightish track and he's all legs."
