Barnavara was sent out a dominant $1.70 favourite but she struggled to make ground in the run home and finished only fourth as her stablemate, Wootton Verni, streaked away to an easy win.
Waller felt Wootton Verni’s race experience down under proved vital and while he was understandably disappointed with the run of boom mare Barnavara, he felt she had genuine excuses.
“Wootton Verni has been here a while now and he found some great form in the spring,” Waller said, referring to the gelding’s wins in the Coongy Handicap and Rosehill Gold Cup.
“Certainly, he’s talented horse and with a bit of give in the ground and being rock-hard fit, he showed the others up.”
Barnavara’s pattern of racing in Europe was to settle on speed but she didn’t do herself any favours when she missed the kick at her Australian debut.
“The plan was to go forward, to be second, third or fourth but she dwelt at the start,” Waller said.
“I think rather than fire her up, Australian horses just find their positions so quickly, whereas if you fire her up first Australian start I guess James (McDonald) would have thought you could of set her alight which is what we didn’t want.
“Then when they went slow, it was very hard from back there. They controlled it from the front and made it hard to finish off.”
Wootton Verni ($5.50), well ridden by Tommy Berry, raced away to win by two-and-a-half lengths from English raider Caviar Heights ($4.20) who finished strongly for second with Portland ($26) doing his best work on the line to finish a close third.
Barnavara, a Group 1 winner in France, moved into the race on the home turn but was soon under pressure from the 300m and laboured to finish only fourth.
Berry said he was pleasantly surprised when Wootton Verni settled in front of Barnavara.
“I was always going to put my bloke into the race,” Berry said.
“I thought the mare (Barnavara) was going to maybe even slide forward and I would be on the back of her.
“It’s always nice to be in front of quality horses in the run and they’ve got to chase you.”
James McDonald, rider of Barnavara, said the race wasn’t run to suit the mare.
“She got back in a slowly run race,” McDonald said. “She will improve.”
Waller is undecided where he will go next with either Wootton Verni or Barnavara.
“The plan was always to run Wootton Verni in the Tancred Stakes today but he just didn’t quite fulfill our expectations last start,” Waller said.”So, we’ve come back a grade just to give him some confidence, and he’s got that confidence back.
“Is he up to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes? That will be the question we have to answer.”
Waller said he wants to monitor how Barnavara comes through this race and then decide if she goes to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on April 11.
English maestro William Haggas also has some thnking to do after Caviar Heights ran on well for second.
Haggas’s travelling assistant trainer Issy Paul said Caviar Heights is in two races on April 11, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Sydney Cup (3200m).
“Caviar Heights will go to either of those races, it will be up to the boss (Haggas),” Paul said.”But we are very happy with Caviar Heights. He has run a really good race and will improve.”
English jockey Tom Marquand was also taken by the Sydney debut of Caviar Heights.
“He ran great,” Marquand said. “We were ruined a little bit by the lack of tempo.
“I wish he’d stepped a little better and I’d have been able to be a bit more positive.”
Portland was doing his best work on the line to finish third, pleasing trainer Matthew Smith.
“He’s run well and continues to improve,” Smith said. “We will look at the JRA Plate for him.”
Kerrin McEvoy, rider of Portland, said the former Irish galloper’s run was full or merit.”I got onto the back of the favourite but it didn’t really take me anywhere,” McEvoy said.
“I had to switch out to get into the clear and he got going well over the last furlong (a200m).”
