Chris Waller’s first Sydney premiership came sooner than expected for the simple reason he never expected to win one.
The Rosehill-based horseman capped his meteoric rise in Sydney when he was crowned the premier trainer with 117 wins, finishing the season with a four-win haul at Rosehill on Saturday.
But already the New Zealand-born Waller is focused on not being a one-hit wonder.
“I think it (being the premier trainer) is something I’ll look back on,” Waller said.
“I guess if you offered it to me last year or two years ago I would have thought `that’s great, I don’t need to do anything else’.
“But straight away you reassess your goals. It’s just the competitive nature in any jockey or trainer, you don’t really want to run second or third after winning it.
“Next season it will be the same again – it will be full bore right from the start.”
Waller moved to Australia a decade ago with little money, less than a handful of horses but with big dreams and a determination to succeed.
Each season the trainer has bettered his previous season’s total of winners but after the 2009-10 campaign he thought his total of 94 would be hard to match.
Not only did he match it, but he smashed that mark this season when he sailed past 100 metropolitan winners in Sydney – just the fifth trainer to achieve the feat.
“I didn’t expect to win a premiership, simple as that,” Waller said when asked if his breakthrough title had come quicker than expected.
“It’s a great surprise, a tremendous thrill but at the same time you’ve got to take your hat off to (runner-up) Peter Snowden for winning all those Group One races.
“I’d easily swap positions with what he’s achieved in the last year and likewise (third-placed) Gai (Waterhouse), she has won the Caulfield Cup and still had a great season.
“We’ve had more runners but it still gives me a lot of satisfaction because we’ve got the team of owners, staff and horses to be able to win premierships which this season has been 117 wins and 117 happy moments.”
Among Waller’s season highlights were Group One wins to stable stalwarts Rangirangdoo and Danleigh during the Sydney autumn carnival.
He also continued his impressive record with imported gallopers, preparing My Kingdom Of Fife to win the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Stand To Gain the Sydney Cup.
AAP TURF
