Having already presented England’s Royal family with one horse racing trophy from Australia, Chris Waller is hoping he can prepare Chalk Stream to win them another this spring.
The champion trainer had the opportunity to meet King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla during his trip to Royal Ascot in June, gifting them the Australia Day Cup silverware that The King’s horse Chalk Stream collected in January.
“It was one of those days where you get butterflies and worry about saying the wrong things, but afterwards you’re just buzzing,” Waller said.
“It was special and they’re lovely people.
“They recognised the importance of his win and were honoured to get the trophy.”
Chalk Stream was The King’s first Australian winner and after kicking off his latest campaign in the Premier’s Cup Prelude (1800m) at Rosehill earlier this month, the gelding will head to Randwick for Saturday’s Sydney City Lexus CTC Cup (2400m).
He has mixed his form since arriving in Australia from England 18 months ago but has undeniable ability and his Australia Day Cup win did come over the same journey second-up last campaign.
“It’s the right distance,” Waller said.
“He’s a hard horse to prepare because he’s not competitive over shorter so we’ve done the best we can and I think he’s pretty fit.”
Chalk Stream will be among four runners for Waller in the Listed race and has been the subject of early specking, firming from $51 into $41.
Kirkeby is the most fancied of the trainer’s quartet at $7 and drops almost 10 kilos in weight from the 62.5kg he lumped into third behind Awesome Wonder last start.
