Chris Waller has felt varying degrees of pressure with Wodeton from the time the colt who is favourite for this Saturday’s Caulfield Guineas hit the track.
A $1.6 million Magic Millions yearling, he trotted in on debut but has not won since, along the way making trips to the runner-up stall in the Golden Slipper and Golden Rose, races that would have cemented his place as one of the most valuable stallion prospects in the country.
His potential value only increased last month when his sire, star shuttle stallion Wootton Bassett, died early in the Southern Hemisphere breeding season at Coolmore.
Waller, who is also a part-owner of Wodeton, understands what a Group 1 win would mean to the colt but said that does not add any pressure ahead of the $3 million Guineas.
“It doesn’t change the way I train him,” Waller said.
“Obviously it would be a fantastic result but, you can’t change things.
“We’re under pressure to get winners 52 weeks of the year, so there’s no change just because his stallion died.”
Waller is chasing a second-straight Caulfield Guineas for Coolmore following Private Life’s upset win last year.
That son of Written Tycoon now stands at Coolmore at a fee of $19,250.
Wodeton will command a heftier fee than that if he retires with a Group 1 win to his name, especially now that breeders do not have access to his sire, and Waller said it is the Wootton Bassett blood in Wodeton’s veins that has him confident about Saturday’s 1600m contest.
“We had to make a decision whether to come back to the Coolmore distance (1200m), or even run in The Everest, or run him here and I just think he deserves a chance at a mile,” Waller said.
“Timing wise, I think it’s the right race and the beauty of the Wootton Bassett stock is they can run any distance, they’re not one dimensional.
“Getting him out to a mile might just find that extra gear.”
Wodeton is battling it out for favouritism with stablemate Autumn Boy, who would also hold special appeal to Waller if successful.
He is a son of The Autumn Sun, who Waller prepared to win the Caulfield Guineas in 2018. It was one of three wins in the race for Waller, who won his first with Press Statement in 2015.
The Autumn Sun is proving one of Australia’s most exciting young sires with four individual Group 1 winners, including Waller’s unbeaten emerging superstar Autumn Glow, but the Arrowfield Stud stallion is yet to produce a Group 1-winning son.
Autumn Boy, a $200,000 Magic Millions yearling, is bay in colour, like his sire, and Waller said that is not where the similarities end.
“He’s a lovely-moving horse, a great type, great attitude. (They’re) very similar,” Waller said.
Autumn Boy’s last-start seventh in the Golden Rose was the first unplaced run of his four-start career, but he was wide throughout in an on-pace dominated race and Waller is confident he can bounce back.
“The Golden Rose wasn’t run to suit, he looked a bit plain, but I think with the sectional times in a track record-run race, he was good and he’ll definitely appreciate the mile,” Waller said.
Autumn Boy will start from the inside alley in the field of 16 with Wodeton drawn 10 but set to start from eight if the two emergencies don’t gain a start.
James McDonald retains his association with Wodeton, while Damian Lane – who partnered Private Life to victory last year – is aboard Autumn Boy.
