Rosehill neighbours Chris Waller and David Payne are set for a Flight Stakes face off when their Princess Series fillies, Striking Alibi and Bangkok Hottie, line up for a rematch at Randwick.
Bangkok Hottie has won their only two encounters in the Furious and Tea Rose Stakes, but Striking Alibi is an early favourite to exact revenge in the Group 1 on Saturday.
Waller is hoping punters have got it right, but if they don’t, he’ll be almost as thrilled for his fellow Rosehill trainer to land the major prize.
A decorated horseman in his native South Africa before forging a successful career in Australia, Payne is one of the sport’s gentleman.
He has reduced his string in recent years to around 16 in work, but that hasn’t stopped him enjoying a terrific start to the season with three stakes wins – two courtesy of Bangkok Hottie and the other, Persian Wonder.
While both prepare their teams at Rosehill, Waller and Payne don’t always cross paths at trackwork, although the former admits to keeping an eagle eye on his rival of a morning.
“He stays down in the stewards’ tower, but I have a little look at him with the binoculars now and then, see what he’s up to, because his horses are going terrific,” Waller said.
“He’s an amazing horseman. He’s a hard worker. If we don’t win, I hope he does.”
Originally from Perth, Striking Alibi has turned in encouraging efforts at her only two Sydney starts, making ground from the second half of the field to place in the Furious Stakes (1200m) and the Tea Rose Stakes (1400m).
Waller says she has continued to improve, and if she can handle the extra 200m of the Flight Stakes (1600m), he has no doubt she’ll be in the finish.
“She was awesome the other day. She just stepped away a little bit slow and because she was second-up, we were a bit reluctant to give her a message to recover quickly. It just put us in an awkward position, but she was great,” Waller said.
“She has learned so much from each run.”
Waller will also be represented by De Armas, a Listed winner in New Zealand who made late ground to finish midfield at her only Australian start over 1200m at Warwick Farm last month.
