Q&A: Chris Waller

Six-time champion Sydney trainer Chris Waller is fresh off a 2015/16 season to remember, having trained a record 169 Sydney metropolitan winners including Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}), the six-time Group 1 winner who has become racing's newest global superstar. As anyone in racing knows, however, time never stands still to allow for reflection on the past, and Waller is well and truly looking ahead to the new Australian season. He sat down with Chris McGrath to discuss his early days as well as his latest successes and plans for expansion.

TDN: First of all, congratulations on beating your own record for the number of metropolitan winners in an Australian season. How much do you view these landmarks as a motivation, and how much as a source of pressure?

CW: The only number I find difficult is zero–getting off the mark is always the hardest part. Because it's not about the winners you have in the last week of the season, but about all 52 weeks. That's why we're so fortunate here in Australia, to have good, competitive, what we call “Saturday” racing year round, worth a minimum of A$85,000, about to go to A$100,000. That's what keeps a big stable going, from the first week to the last. And that's also why I feel for trainers in Europe, having to get horses trained up and set for spring and summer. We can keep making adjustments, keep ticking along. In terms of prize money, we have Royal Ascots three or four times a year.

TDN: But presumably beating your own record is a double-edged sword? It would be easy for people to start taking the standards you set yourself for granted.

CW: It means nothing, beating your own record. I must say I was very emotional when I first beat the record long shared, believe it or not, by Tommy Smith and Gai Waterhouse. The father had set it in 1975-76, and the daughter came to the last day of the 2002-03 season needing two to beat it and one to equal it, which she did.

It's not really for me to comment about people's expectations. You do think things you probably shouldn't be thinking, especially in this era of social media: there are always plenty of people out there to criticise you, and plenty to pat you on the back as well. When I won my first premiership, in 2010, I did think that it was going to get a lot easier, because I didn't have to prove myself anymore, and it had been very hard getting there. But you quickly learn that there's an expectation there from people. Maybe that's what drives me to try to keep doing well.

In the end you're just doing your job and, while yours is the name that's out there, you always have to remember that it's only possible because of the team behind you. You see a few trainers who do forget that. But whenever I get recognised for winning a premiership, or a Group 1, it makes me emotional to think of all the people working so tirelessly behind the scenes, be it Christmas Day or Good Friday or their birthday, here 365 days a year because of their love of the racehorse.

TDN: I've read how you arrived from New Zealand with a couple of maxed-out credit cards and a handful of horses. What kind of inspiration does your example offer trainers starting out today?

CW: There are a lot of up-and-coming trainers coming through here and our system does give younger trainers a bit of hope. I started with nothing, just half a dozen horses in 2000, and it was always just small steps all the way through. That should give young trainers the confidence that you don't have to be another trainer's son, or very wealthy, or an academic–that you just need to like horses, to know a bit about animals, and to apply a bit of common sense. Sure, we've had a bit of luck on the way, but it's luck that's been worked for. Whether it's my story or someone else's, it's great for anybody to know that you can get to the top, or near it, through being a stablehand, a travelling foreman, coming from New Zealand to Australia.

I think the key is to do it when you're younger, when you don't have as many commitments in terms of family, mortgages, costs; when you can learn to live with no money, and working long hours, and form your family and friends round that. But I also think that the way the world has just got so close now, with technology and communications, you can reach out a lot farther than you could 20 years ago, and certainly 40 years ago, even in terms of borrowing money or leasing equipment, but especially in getting your message across to new investors. Thirty years ago, owners were being told to buy the newspapers to find out when their horses were running. Now they're getting emails two or three times a week, and everything is up front.

I think it's a great era we're in, from that point of view, that it's so much more transparent, and that's why we're seeing so much more investment by owners in other parts of the world, away from where they live. The Americans have been doing that in England, for the prestige, perhaps for a hundred years. But now, whether through a daily newsletter like this one, or racing channels beaming live races in the middle of the night, everything has been brought so close. Younger trainers can capture that and do well.

I'd also say that just having a presence in a strong racing jurisdiction is important. Here we can train in the country, and we can train in the city. I started in the city with a small amount of horses, and probably won a lot fewer races than I might have been able to win in the country. But the races that you do win, against the bigger trainers, get you noticed. And each year that brings you a few extra: I went from maybe half a dozen to ten, then to 16. And in Sydney if you train 16 winners in a year you're actually in the top 20–you've got your foot in the door. Win a big race on Saturday and the phone might ring on Monday morning and another horse could be on its way. And once that door is revolving, you've got to make sure that horse stays in the building. If you can at least explain why a horse isn't winning, can show that you're working hard, then the owner might be prepared to keep faith in his investment.

TDN: For all that you progressed by steady increments, there must have been one or two turning points?

CW: My first Group 1 winner, a horse called Triple Honour (NZ) (Honours List {Ire}) in 2008, gave me that inner confidence I could do it–and that's so important in any sportsperson and equally, from what I have learned, in business as well. It makes taking those hard decisions easier, and you tend to get them right, too. Since then, things have really flowed on.

TDN: And presumably your investment in overseas stock, as you were making your way through the ranks, also helped set you apart?

CW: The fact was that we couldn't afford to buy yearlings, unless they had problems. Those conformational issues, you can deal with them, but it takes time, and everyone wants a quick return on their money. Fortunately these horses were not only cheaper but proved able to win races, to the point that we now have 20 horses a year arriving from other countries, and running three to six months after getting off the plane.

TDN: But now that others have followed your lead, so driving up prices, I guess you are becoming a victim of your own success?

CW: Yes, now we've seen a complete cycle, with everyone going to the same places. But we'll change as well, we'll diversify, and the market trends suggest that other places might be suitable: America could be next on the list, especially now that they're making efforts to become drug-free. I've no criticism of those making use of Lasix or pain remedies, and it's hard for them to comment until they experience doing without. But I think that learning you don't need these things in the end actually gives you confidence. If a horse is not fast enough, then drugs won't make it faster. It's about trusting the genetics and the training that gets the best out of a horse without hurting it. I think the sport in America is fantastic and this side of it has just been holding it back.

TDN: Racing is often said to be a numbers game. Are there limits, looking ahead, to where you would feel comfortable with your own expansion? You already have a satellite stable in Melbourne, for instance.

CW: Yes, and I'd deem it a successful one–we finished in the top five there this year, with a fraction of the numbers of the bigger stables, having only a base of 20 down there. Looking ahead, realistically we would look to limit ourselves to a small set-up in Dubai, for the Carnival, just because it seems such a big networking hub, but also to have a small international team. That's something that is very hard to operate from Australia, though you could certainly start it off here before basing it either in America or England. But I do think you would need a completely different group of horses: you can't just be taking resources away from your Australian operation. It would need a separate identity. But it would be very exciting, judging from what we are already seeing, through the Global Sprint Challenge and obviously the Breeders' Cup. I think in 10 years' time things will have become a lot more international for all of us.

TDN: And can you give encouragement that Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) herself will one day fly the flag overseas?

CW: Yes. First of all I'd really like to win another Cox Plate with her, and that's what she is being set for. Then there would be the Queen Elizabeth S. in Sydney, which is worth A$4 million, so she'll be set for that in our autumn. But then, yes, we'd love to take her overseas. The logical thing would be Royal Ascot, because they do such a good job of marketing it here in Australia. But if you were going to take a mare like that over there, I think you should be considering a full prep, and not just one race. I don't think we saw the best of Black Caviar there, for instance, but other Australian horses also, on just one run.

I think that's why Australian horses have been underestimated for many years. We've got some of the best-bred horses in the world, and our prize money is the best in the world. And anybody can come here to compete for it. It's nowhere near as simple in Japan or Hong Kong, for instance. So we're in an enviable position to make a statement on the world stage. The only thing that makes it a little harder is the distance.

So far as the Breeders' Cup is concerned, it is always a problem that it clashes with the Cox Plate. It would be hard to take a top horse away from the racing we have in our backyard, at the same time, to go over there. That's where you'd maybe need to be lucky enough to have two Winxs! But certainly the Breeders' Cup is in everyone's imagination.

TDN: With her huge public following, is each new success for Winx now a matter of relief sooner than enjoyment?

CW: There's an expectation I've never, ever experienced. I've seen good horses, and I've seen people train good horses. But I've never experienced the pressure a horse like this brings to the table. A horse that can keep doing amazing things–regardless of the track conditions, or the distance, or luck in running, or the opposition. You just don't see that very often. All you can do is hope that you go to the races having made sure you've got everything right in those areas you can control. That they've done enough, but not too much, just so that they can hold their form, because horses like that don't improve.

TDN: Often trainers talk of great horses as herd leaders, as Alpha Males. As a female, how much does this one gain from her physical capacity and how much from the mentality of a champion?

CW: You could say she has the arrogance to think she can win from any position. But that wouldn't do her justice, because she's far from arrogant. She's a lady. But she's a great athlete, and knows how to run. She can do it under pressure, and she can do it time and time again. God help me, but she doesn't have a breaking point that we've seen. We have to be careful, have to be mindful that she can't do the impossible. She's not the biggest or the strongest or the best-moving that you've ever seen, but she covers the ground effortlessly, and has great acceleration over a variety of distances, from 1300 to 2000 metres.

TDN: You had 15 Group 1 winners last season. Does that just reflect the sheer quality of your stable, or do you think horses of high potential do better in an environment of excellence?

CW: It's going to sound silly but I do think horses lift to those they're racing against, and those they're working against. When you've got a good system going–and there are plenty of stables that could say that–then you're not in a rush to do things. If you're light on numbers or quality, and under pressure, then you will still win races through their natural ability but you won't get so much out of them, long term. When you're training quality horses, you learn not to panic, to wait, and they'll keep improving. A lot of the good horses we've had have not been superstars to start with, by any stretch, but they have been able to continue to build.

TDN: Even the most accomplished and experienced trainers always say they never stop learning. So would a horse entering your barn today do better than for the Chris Waller who arrived from New Zealand?

CW: You remember what has worked, and what hasn't. You see how some types will improve at certain times of year, and that if you keep pushing at the wrong time there's not only no improvement but no way back. And that, again, is the beauty of Australian racing, that we can always build towards our carnivals, whatever the time of year.

TDN: With major global operators committing heavily to Australian breeding and racing, do you think the sport there is becoming stronger than ever, or is it simply a case of other racing cultures recognising its quality?

CW: I've only the utmost respect for the people I'm following in Australia, the people we all used to read about in our newspapers: the greats who have trained here, ridden here, and the horses that have raced here. I'd say we've been up with world standards for very many years. It's just that the rest of the world is becoming aware of it, and to some degree learning from it. Yet we're not arrogant enough to think we can't learn a lot from American or European racing.

TDN: Finally, having scaled such heights already, what spurs you forward from here?

CW: It's just a great sport to be in–it's a drug. Once you've had that winning feeling–not just as a trainer, or jockey, or owner, but also if you're a punter or even in the media–once you have experienced a champion, it's in the blood, you want that fix again and again. So that's where the future lies, for me: to try and bring as many people as possible along with you, to share that feeling. Racing is so special that way. There's not many sports you can be part of from 12 years old to your passing day. You get sick of lawn bowls when you're 100.