Sculpting late-blooming juveniles into Group One-performing three-year-olds has been part of Chris Waller’s playbook for years and Providence has the profile to suggest he might become the latest.
While still a maiden, the colt has shown promise in all three starts with a Randwick placing on debut in May and consecutive fourths in the Listed Phoenix (1500m) and J J Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm.
Waller has used the Brisbane winter carnival to give the likes of Group 1 winners The Autumn Sun, Zoustar and Press Statement a solid grounding at the back end of their respective two-year-old seasons and Providence fits a similar mould.
“He did really well in the J J Atkins. He drew wide and got back on a day that it was impossible to make up ground,” Waller said.
“He overcame a few biases that day and showed us he has got the makings of a nice horse.”
While Providence stretched to a mile at two, Waller hasn’t given up on the colt putting himself in the frame for a shot at the Golden Rose (1400m).
Step one will be Saturday’s Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill when he meets six rivals, including stablemates Sixties and Fermoy.
“He is by Wootton Bassett and he’s a lovely, scopey horse,” Waller said.
“He is definitely a Spring Champion Stakes horse but I’m hoping he might find more speed and get to a Golden Rose. Who knows?”
Sixties rises to stakes grade after breaking his maiden in emphatic fashion when scoring by seven lengths on the Kensington track earlier this month, while Waller regards Fermoy as the improver.
The Coolmore colt wasn’t quite up to matching motors with the better juveniles during the autumn but put the writing on the wall with a fast-finishing fourth first-up at Rosehill on a heavy track.
“He hit a flat spot on a couple of the wet spots and he has finished off well,” Waller said.
“He has matured as a three-year-old so forget his two-year-old form. He’s a new horse.”
Waller also accepted with Central Coast but he has been withdrawn after trialling at Rosehill on Thursday.
