Sydney Premiership leading trainer Chris Waller has to disagree with bookmakers in the assessment of his three runners in the Expressway Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
Waller will saddle up three Group 1 winners in the $200,000 1200m WFA Group 2 and regards Danleigh as his pick above Rangirangdoo and new stable acquisition Shoot Out.
“In my opinion Danleigh should be shortest of my three in the market followed by Shoot Out and Rangirangdoo,” Waller said. “He has done the most work out of the three of them and although he is getting on a little, he is a pretty handy sprinter.”
Pre race markets have Danleigh at $24 with Snipper’s Bullet ($51) the only other runner at a longer price.
Rangirangdoo who won this race two years ago is at $12 and AJC Derby winner Shoot Out is the shortest of Waller’s runners at $6.
Up and coming sprinter Rain Affair will go to the post a short priced favourite and is certain to start odds on.
A winner of eight of his nine starts and the fact that he has a run under his belt and a recent barrier trial has forced bookmakers to currently have him at $1.70.
Waller admits that he doesn’t know a great deal about Shoot Out who is having his first start for the stable and would benefit greatly from the run.
The top trainer said that he was impressed with Shoot Out’s two recent barrier trials but he is still a bit of an unknown.
Waller is certain that Shoot Out’s class will carry him through on the day as it will with Rangirangdoo who is starting to come to hand nicely.
“I was actually encouraged by Rangirangdoo’s work on Tuesday morning, it was the first time we have put him under pressure and he surprised me.
“It was a more testing gallop than his two trials but he might struggle to keep up to the fast pace of a 1200m weight-for-age contest,” Waller said.
Waller increased his lead in the Sydney trainer’s premiership yesterday when he combined with jockey Glyn Schofield to produce a winning treble at Kemble Grange which carried Metropolitan status.
Jockey Corey Brown is aiming for a hat trick of Expressway wins with the short priced favourite Rain Affair.
Brown was aboard Rangirangdoo when he took out the 2010 race then followed that up last year on Centennial Park for trainer David Payne.
Payne said the six year old, who is looking to to make it back to back wins, has a great fresh record and is going just as well as last year when he won the Expressway first up.
“We will pick out some weight-for-age races for him over the autumn.
“We’ve put him in the Doncaster so we’ll see how he goes,” Payne said.
