After Rosehill’s rescheduled race meeting on Monday, Chris Waller took his tally to 155 ½ winners for the season and this weekend he will be on the verge of eclipsing the record currently held by TJ Smith and Gai Waterhouse.
Therefore I thought it would be a great time to discuss which trainer deserves the status of being crowned the “Best Trainer of Season 2012-13”.
How should they be judged? Do we judge them solely by the number of wins? Could it be by their average prize money? Or by their winning Strike Rate?
Please note the below figures are as at 30th June 2013, they only include Metropolitan race meetings and trainers with 10 winners or more.
Firstly, looking at the number of winners for the big three trainers in Sydney. Chris Waller (153½), Gai Waterhouse (76) and Peter Snowden (70.5) who are far ahead of their closest rivals John O’Shea (31) and Joseph Pride (27).
Credit has to be given to Chris Waller for reaching this milestone, but he has saddled up 931 starters in Sydney to achieve those 153 ½ winners, a strike rate of 16.49%.
Compare this to the strike rates of Gai Waterhouse (17.76%) and Peter Snowden (15.53%).
These strike rates look far superior compared to the well established trainer Anthony Cummings (8.24%).
While on the topic of strike rates, I would like to know what kind of strike rate TJ Smith and Gai Waterhouse had when they set their records. I couldn’t seem to find those figures.
In my opinion a trainer should be judged on their strike rate over the number of winners they have accumulated over the season.
The top of this list in Sydney is David Vandyke, 14 wins from 69 starters, a strike rate of 20.29%.
Another interesting statistic is that out of his 69 starters, 36 of those finished in the first 3, a 52.17% strike rate.
Compared to Gai Waterhouse with 48.36% and Chris Waller with 43.61% of their runners finishing in the first three
Chris Waller may not have the best strike rate in Sydney but when it comes to racing in Melbourne he takes the cake, 10 wins from 46 starters (21.7%). He is closely followed by Robert Hickmont with a strike rate of 17.4% and Michael Kent with 17.1%.
Thus, is Chris Waller the best trainer going around? If not who is?
In summary I believe there should be two awards for the “Best Trainer of the Season”. The first award for the ‘most winners’ in the one season. The second for the best ‘strike rate’ over the whole season.
No race previews this week, but I have found a couple of horses to follow from last week’s meetings at Rosehill and Flemington.
Destiny’s Kiss
She definitely saw out the mile-and-a-half and as I stated she would be hard to beat.
Even though it wasn’t the strongest field she really impressed me, especially when the track was leader biased earlier in the day.
She sat second last, got a rails run and swiftly went past stable mate Fuimicino. Grafton Cup bound (next Wednesday 10th July).
Lucrepitous
Always slow away from the barriers but travelled well throughout before dropping the bit at around the 600m and dropped back to second last.
Before picking up again as they turned and flew home to finish second. This horse definitely wants further and is looking for a mile and a half.
Travolta
Started from barrier 12 and was kept 4-5 wide the whole trip and ended up being six or seven wide as they turned and chewed up the ground down the straight to finish second. Was first up over 1500m and will prefer it over 2000m and beyond.
Miss Steele
This 2yo grey filly looks a horse of the future, as soon as the gap opened she shot through and put pay to her rivals.
Nadeem Lass
Missed the start and ended up last on the turn, weaved through the field and burst out of the pack to finish third
Happy Punting!
Justin Cinque
Expert
Yeah he had an exceptional day Brad. 3 of his first four runners won from memory and he trained three Rosehill winners in a row. Now for some victories in the majors!!
Brad Durrant
Roar Guru
Chris Waller sure did deliver on Saturday. 4 winners from his 11 starters (36.36%) and 6 out of his 11 starters finishing in the top 3 (54.54%)
Drew H
Guest
Everyone loves a Kiwi success story in Australia.........don't they? Is it a dream or is it a nightmare? Perhaps I want to be a trainer too. Wallpaper in the book of dreams is a facade. The movie called 'The Ring' shows the devil's work behind the wallpaper. I think that I will stick with my own pride in my own little stable. The moment I say that I like the condition of my own horses then, somehow, one of them is limping around. It's a lonely world to hold good horses.
Drew H
Guest
If Chris buttered his bread on both sides then it would land on its edge. He is not a young fellow now. He should acknoledge all things as being mature, and not call upon people to join the young stable.