A midweek double at Randwick’s Kensington track has been the cherry on the top of another record-breaking season for Chris Waller, who has collected his sixteenth consecutive Sydney trainers’ premiership.
Waller celebrated wins with Godolphin two-year-old Sequinned in Wednesday’s Inglis Xtra Bonus Plate (1100m) and Concordia Wind in the Tropicus @ Vinery Stud Handicap (1550m) to give him 183 Sydney metropolitan wins for the term.
Stable apprentice Siena Grima also claimed the Sydney junior rider’s title with 34 victories after running down defending titleholder Braith Nock in the final weeks, while James McDonald, Waller’s go-to jockey, claimed the senior division for the tenth time.
While Waller is always quick to credit the team behind him for his phenomenal success, assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth says his boss carries the bulk of the load.
“Chris is a relentless worker, and he does a lot of it himself,” Duckworth said.
“Plenty of people get accolades for him, but he is the driving force.
“Amazing that he has gone and broken his own records again. He had a bumper year in terms of the top tier horses, and I think we’ve also had more provincial winners than we had last year.
“Every category has been stronger this year without expanding in terms of numbers. It’s pretty cool.”
Waller trained 22 Group 1 winners this season to better his previous best of 19 achieved in 2024-25, and while Sequinned and Concordia Wind might not reach those heights, both were impressive at Randwick.
A half-sister to Bivouac, Sequinned was having just her third start and given her rich pedigree, a city win as a two-year-old was an important box to tick.
“The main thing is you get a metropolitan win on the pedigree page. Not that you need much on a pedigree page like hers, but it still boosts the whole family,” Duckworth said.
“Then you just try to plot a path and hopefully end up in black type if you can.”
Ridden by Zac Lloyd, Sequinned ($11) scored by 1-1/4 lengths over Wanda’s Spark ($2.50) with Eviction Notice ($2.25 fav) the same margin away third.
