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The Roar

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MUNCEY: Waller sets the bar for us all to rise up to

Chris Munce with one of his horses at Eagle Farm
Expert
5th September, 2015
1

I’ve never seen anything like Chris Waller having 11 out of the 16 runners in the Chemlsford this afternoon.

It’s quite amazing. I haven’t seen anyone with that much domination at least in my time.

I was asked: it it too many? My answer to that is – why would you want to stop him? It’s simply up to everyone else to lift their game. We can’t duck and weave. Everyone just has to step up and prove they can take it to him.

The Chemlsford does look like a great race – a classic Group field. While Waller holds more than half the deck with Royal Descent looking for another win, Pornichet will be there with more fitness on his side, and Hartnell, impressive in the Autumn, returns too. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of it.

Vancouver
What to say about Vancouver? On the one hand, he’s done his job. On the other, we all want to see him race on.

But he was plain in the San Domenico Stakes. I saw from the second they jumped that he was in trouble. Tommy Berry had to work on him to get him out the gates and towards the front. He struggled to hold on with the leaders and only laboured.

I didn’t see his barrier trial but the word ‘plain’ again was thrown around.

I was asked if there’s a clear reason as to why he hasn’t gone on, as can happen to Golden Slipper winners.

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The truth is it could be anything. It could be as simple as he just hasn’t come back. There’s a million reasons – and Gai will know. She knows best, she knows the horse, she’ll be across if it’s a injury or a setback or something more.

Fact is, you can completely understand if his connections decided to retire him rather than force the issue. He’s a valuable young stallion, valued for a huge amount. But I hope he comes good and performs in the Caulfield Guineas.

The stable
My horses are going terrific. Five went to the races last Saturday and three went close to winning, and they all raced well – none more than More For Me, who missed the start five lengths yet very nearly won.

We’re just copping the swings and roundabouts – barriers have been a killer for us, drawing the outside with just about everything at the moment. There’s no respite just for the moment but the stable is ticking over very nicely.

One of those ticking over is the colt, Wicked Intent. He had a jump-out at a trial on Tuesday and did well, and we’ll be aiming him for a race on Saturday the 12th.

Along with the other trainers here we’re all gearing up for a move across to Doomben from Eagle Farm as work continues. It is a bit of an upheaval and no one is quite sure how long we’ll be away from the Farm.

Everyone has to keep the big picture in mind and hopefully it comes back as expected, but it’s a big move for us all, without a hint of compensation for the troubles. We’ll just hope it goes smoothly.

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