Ever seeking to fine tune his already slick training operation, Chris Waller has returned from a visit with legendary horseman Bob Baffert armed with some fresh insights and perspectives.
In the US for a family holiday, Waller spent a day with Baffert at his Santa Anita stables, chewing the fat and talking all things horses.
The pair have forged a friendship since meeting at an awards night in London in 2017 when Baffert’s Arrogate and the Waller-trained Winx received two of the top accolades.
“Through Winx, I got to meet him back in her day and have kept in touch since,” Waller said.
“I’ve been to see him once before and again this time where we sat down one-on-one, had a walk around the stables, the processes that they go through, the challenges they face, and it’s very similar to us.
“It’s interesting that they train their horses harder, but less frequently. Stronger gallops, but nowhere near as much as we gallop our horses.
“It comes down to each trainer, you can’t just follow someone and do it, you’ve got to have your own (philosophy).
“But I’m very lucky to be in the position I am where people do take time to sit down with me now.”
Baffert isn’t the only world-class trainer Waller has sought out.
He has also spent time with the likes of Ballydoyle’s Aidan O’Brien, Irish genius Dermot Weld and the great John Gosden, and says he takes away nuggets of wisdom from all of them.
Last year, Waller set himself a personal project to find out more about the relationship between a horse’s performance and its gut health, an area increasingly pertinent in human studies.
As a result, he has tweaked his feeding and treatment regime to incorporate more roughage and the addition of pre and probiotics.
“I went to Ireland with Aidan (O’Brien), I went to Northern Farm in Japan, and I asked questions for six months about gut health,” Waller said.
“In our day and age, you want to be a bit cleaner rather than just rely on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, get their bodies working right.
“Whether it makes you win more Group One races, I’m not sure, but there are a few photo finishes we’ve had and you always say, ‘well maybe that did help’.
“I think you’ve always got to keep moving forward or you can get left behind.”
Constantly reassessing and evolving his training regime continues to work well for Waller, who will capture his 14th successive Sydney trainers’ premiership this season.
Also a key component is the replenishment of horse stock and the nurturing of the next generation.
In that vein, Waller is looking forward to the debut of Mergeila at Rosehill on Saturday, a $750,000 Easter Yearling purchase for owners Yulong.
Mergeila was scratched from the Kensington meeting on Wednesday in preference for the Precise Air Handicap (1200m) on her home track and Waller believes she has a bright future.
“At this time of year, we always kick off a horse or two that can go through to better races. I think she is in that mould,” Waller said.
“Manzoice might have run in a race like this, and he went on and won a Derby.
“What you see on Saturday is not what you’re going to see in twelve months’ time, but I think she is an exciting filly.”
And given Waller’s recent American sojourn, the timing of Mergeila’s debut could hardly be more fitting – the filly is a product of Baffert’s triple crown champion Justify and Waller’s former Group 1 winner Invincibella.
