Coolmore principal Tom Magnier has paid Chris Waller the ultimate compliment ahead of Switzerland’s Golden Slipper bid, drawing similarities between Sydney’s champion trainer and Ballydoyle supremo Aidan O’Brien.
Waller delivered Coolmore its maiden Golden Slipper victory last year with Shinzo and on Saturday Switzerland will attempt to repeat the dose.
Waller has never been renowned as a trainer of two-year-olds due to his patient approach, and indeed has only had a handful of Golden Slipper runners, but Magnier says Coolmore specifically chose him to guide their valuable colts.
“Everybody said, ‘he won’t win a Slipper, why are you giving him all these horses?'” Magnier said.
“But the proof is in the pudding now, and he’s got us a second good colt this year. I suppose everyone will be turning to him now for the Slipper.
“He’s a patient trainer. He and Aidan (O’Brien) are just at a different level and the fact he is very patient with the horses and gives them time and he lets them come together naturally is a big help for us.
“We obviously have a big relationship with Aidan at home and we’d have a very similar relationship with Chris down here.”
Switzerland is a clear $4.60 second favourite with online bookmakers behind Coolmore’s other star colt Storm Boy at $2.10.
Magnier is loathe to split them, but when asked about Switzerland’s Slipper credentials, he believes the Todman Stakes winner has a sense of timing.
“He is improving all the time and he’s coming together bang on target, bang on time,” Magnier said.
While comparisons have been made between Shinzo and Switzerland – the pair sharing the same sire in Snitzel, as well as the same trainer and similar ownership group – the biggest difference between them has been their preparations.
While Shinzo won the Golden Slipper off a seven-day back-up by necessity, Switzerland booked his spot a little earlier, allowing him to arrive at the juvenile feature with two weeks between runs.
As a trainer who prefers planning over spontaneity, Waller is much happier with Switzerland’s set-up.
While he admits his colt could have the misfortune of meeting a freakish youngster in Storm Boy, he also warns that Switzerland is yet to peak.
“There’s a ceiling for a lot of horses, with this horse, there hasn’t been,” Waller said.
“He’s kept lifting, he’s kept jumping the bar we’ve put in front of him.
“This Saturday he goes to another level again. What I like about his racing is he’s solid all the way to the line, he runs through the line, and I think the more pressure involved, the higher he’ll perform.”
The same could be said for Waller, who rarely doesn’t make his presence felt on the major race days.
He will have seven runs across the five Group 1 races at Rosehill on Saturday, The Galaxy being the only feature in which he isn’t represented.
