Potential for party of five for Waller
Of the 15 nominations for the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington, champion trainer Chris Waller has a third.
Aeliana, Autumn Boy, Birdman, Buckaroo and Ohope Wins have been entered with barrier draws and race shape to eventually determine if all take their place.
Waller has won the Makybe Diva just once previously, in 2014 with Foreteller, but has used the weight-for-age contest as part of spring plans with his team.
Via Sistina, victorious in the past two runnings of the Cox Plate, contested the Makybe Diva on both occasions, finishing fifth in 2024 before running third last year, both times behind Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) who will be shooting for a fourth consecutive win in the race.
Waller was at Flemington on Tuesday morning to watch Autumn Boy, Birdman, Buckaroo and Ohope Wins go through their paces while Aeliana worked in Sydney and will head to Melbourne during the week.
The rise in distance is expected to be a better fit for Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) after her first-up run in the Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on August 22.
"She raced a little bit flat but sectional times suggest they went a little bit quicker than what she was comfortable with and got a bit tired late, although Nash Rawiller said her last 200 metres was fine," Waller said.
"Based on what he said and her recovery, I'm happy with her and I think she will appreciate the mile and the nice big open spaces at Flemington.
"She was going well into her first-up run, so there has been no change."
Dual Oaks winner Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park) has had one run back, finishing at the tail of the field in the P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 15.
Waller said the rise in trip and bigger track will suit.
"We won't see her best until she gets to 2000 metres, but it is an important stepping stone for a race like the Turnbull."
With his liking for the distance, being a Caulfield Guineas winner, Waller said Autumn Boy was possibly the 'top seed' going into Saturday's race after finishing eighth in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield first-up.
"He's fitter for the run and physically he looks a little bit tighter which is how I want him to look,"
Waller said either Buckaroo or Birdman could be reserved for the Gr.1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on Saturday week.
"We may split one of them up with the Underwood the following week.
"Buckaroo has won that before, and Birdman runs well at Caulfield, so we'll see how they've drawn, what the race is like and then see which one might be held back."
Waller said the Group One contest will be an enthralling race.
"Sheza Alibi had a tough run first-up in Sydney and I'm sure she has come on and Sir Delius, I've been keeping an eye on him up in Sydney," Waller said.
"Mr Brightside was awesome first-up and along with a few of ours, it will be a great race." - NZ Racing Desk
Gold Trail next step for Wexford fillies
Wexford Stables will take a two-pronged attack into the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings later this month, with promising three-year-olds Pounce and Dashing Dixie set to continue their spring campaigns.
Pounce (NZ) (Almanzor) earned her shot at the fillies’ feature with an impressive victory in the Gr.3 Sunline Vase (1200m) at Ellerslie last Saturday.
The Almanzor filly has now won two of her four starts for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, with the Gold Trail providing another important test as connections plot a potential path towards the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in November.
“She is sprinting well over six furlongs and tackles the same distance again in the Gold Trail at Hastings, which will be three weeks between runs,” Scott said.
“She has got to perform away from Ellerslie and it is another step for her. She has certainly shown a preference for better ground and, providing she gets that at Hawke’s Bay, she should run well again.
“She has come through the win well. After a quiet few days, she had the saddle back on this morning and Lachie, who rides her every day, said she has come through it in really good order. It was a great result for the ownership team.”
While Pounce has yet to race beyond 1200m, Scott sees no reason why she will not cope with the step up in distance later in the spring.
“We are hoping to head towards the 1000 Guineas, but her form has to be strong when we get to the crossroads,” he said.
“She gives every indication that she will go further. She settles well, she is good mentally and, being by Almanzor, she should run 1400m and a mile.”
Stablemate Dashing Dixie (NZ) (Alabama Express) will join Pounce in the Gold Trail after catching the eye when finishing fifth behind her at Ellerslie.
“We were very pleased with her,” Scott said. “Joe Doyle got off and said if you swapped the barrier draws and the runs, she would have finished a lot closer.
“Her sectionals were good and she is another one who appreciated getting on quicker ground. She is handling the preparation really well physically and her coat is starting to turn.
“She will also head to the Gold Trail.”
A daughter of Alabama Express, Dashing Dixie is also expected to appreciate more ground as her preparation progresses, with her pedigree providing encouragement that a mile will be within her compass.
“Her third dam is an Oaks winner in She’s Country and her mother is a sibling to horses that have won over a bit of ground,” Scott said.
“Genetically, she is wired to run a strong mile.”
Meanwhile, stable star Waitak (NZ) (Proisir) pleased his trainers with his resuming effort at Ellerslie and will follow a similar path to the one that served him well last season.
Forced to settle near the rear from a wide draw, Waitak made steady ground in the straight in a race dominated by those who raced closer to the speed.
“We couldn’t have been more pleased with the effort,” Scott said. “We had no option from the draw but to settle a long way back and they probably didn’t go as hard as we anticipated, which explains why the first three around the corner were the first three home.
“He rounded off the race well and the most pleasing part was the way he went through the line.”
Waitak is again being aimed at the Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) and Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m), with Wexford intent on keeping the seven-year-old rolling through the spring and summer.
“He will race in all the same races as last year, which gives him the opportunity to race out the season strongly,” Scott said.
“They’ve still got to be in top form in the first week of March, so we won’t be overtaxing him. That worked well last year.”
With all three horses showing a preference for firmer footing, Scott is hoping conditions remain favourable when Wexford heads to Hastings.
“We would like to see good ground for them all and we hope the weather plays its part.” - NZ Racing News
Belle Cheval retired
The glittering racing career of Group One winner Belle Cheval (NZ) (Savabeel) has come to a premature end.
The Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) heroine resumed at Caulfield last Saturday in the Gr.3 Courtza Stakes (1200m), where she finished last, and following the race she was found to have a respiratory complaint, and the decision was made to retire her from the track.
“She’s been officially retired from racing after pulling up with a respiratory complaint following her fresh-up run last Saturday,” trainer Mark Walker said.
“She was a filly that showed really good talent from day one and grew up a lot during her first preparation.
“She was a high-class filly that deserved all her success, was very lightly raced, and it was a pleasure to train her for David (Archer) and Diane (Wright), and their family.”
Bred and raced by well-known racing identity David Archer, Belle Cheval is by the late Champion New Zealand sire Savabeel and out of Keepa Cheval, a winning half-sister to Archer’s 10-time Group One winner Mufhasa. Belle Cheval is a half-sister to Archer’s other star performer, three-time Group One winner Bostonian, while her half-sister Vitesse is also the dam of Group One winner Kovalica.
With such a rich pedigree, there were plenty of expectations surrounding Belle Cheval heading into her racing career, and Archer entrusted her to the care of Te Akau Racing trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson at Matamata.
After placing over 1300m on debut at Taupo in October last year, she won her second outing over 1400m at Ellerslie a fortnight later before heading south to Riccarton where she placed behind Well Written and Lollapalooza in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).
She resumed with an emphatic win in the Gr.3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m) under leading Australian hoop Craig Williams at Ellerslie on Karaka Millions night, and backed that up with victory in the Gr.3 Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m) at the Auckland track a month later.
Her performances attracted the attention of several $4 million The NZB Kiwi (1500m) slot holders, and her services were secured by The King's Men syndicate.
All eyes were on the unbeaten Well Written in the richest three-year-old race in the Southern Hemisphere, with the Stephen Marsh-trained filly jumping a money back favourite, but Belle Cheval nearly upset the applecart when charging home late to get within a short head of victory.
Buoyed by her impressive run of form, the decision was made to test her talent in Australia, and she rewarded her connections with victory in the Vinery Stud Stakes.
Her retirement has come as a blow to owner-breeder David Archer, but he said her welfare comes first and he is looking forward to welcoming her back to his property, where she will be alongside his other former star equine athletes Mufhasa and Bostonian.
“She is a valuable broodmare and we love her very much,” Archer said. “It is not worth putting her through what she would need to go through to see if we could save her racing career, so we are going to do the right thing by her and retire her.
“She has been a great horse and given us a lot of fun, and we were looking forward to the next two to three years (racing), but that is not going to be.
“Graeme Rogerson said to me after she won her second start at Ellerslie ‘you have got your next Mufhasa’. We had Mufhasa and Bostonian, and to get three like that in one lifetime is great.”
With her racing career coming to an end and spring now underway, Archer’s attention is now on the breeding season, and he said she will stay in Australia for her first mating before returning to New Zealand.
“We have talked to the key players we know here and we are looking to put her to an Australian stallion and then bring her home,” Archer said. “We have had contact from some of the studs in Australia, who rate her extremely highly.
“I have got some very good friends doing the homework for me because as one top man said to me ‘you love your horses so much, one of the big things you have got to do is find the stallion, but find a place where she is going to be kept in cotton wool’. So that is going to be part of the judgment, we want her taken care of and we will give her a big hug when she comes here.
“She has given us a lot of fun and if it wasn’t for a little twist we would have had a lot more fun with her.”
It’s been a tough week for Archer and his family, with two of their other racehorses suffering injuries.
“In the space of seven days we lost Three Arrows and Belle Cheval, and Navy Ensign went sore. It is a tough game,” Archer said.
“Three Arrows had come back from injury and had two seconds, and he raced on the Wednesday for John O’Shea and his injury flared up again, which is probably career ending. We then had Belle Cheval having her issue on the Saturday, and Navy Ensign was coming back at Ellerslie on Saturday, and he went sore on the Monday.”
Archer received better news on Tuesday, with three of his mares arriving at Cambridge Stud to be served, including Belle Cheval’s dam, Keepa Cheval.
“She is in-foal to Chaldean,” Archer said. “We dropped three mares at Cambridge Stud today and Scott (Calder, Cambridge Stud sales and nominations manager) said Keepa Cheval at her age looks very well, which is what the troops at home have been saying.
“She is going back to Chaldean.”
NZ Racing Desk
NZ Racing Desk
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Group 1 racing is back, and so is Weigh In. Guy Heveldt, Emily Murphy and Bruce Sherwin look back on a big day at Ellerslie, then Zac Purton joins us after Ka Ying Rising’s track-record-breaking return.
