Waller Bullish About Silverball In Kingston Town Stakes

Chris Waller won last year’s Kingston Town Stakes with subsequent Epsom Handicap winner He’s Your Man and he is confident that Silverball can deliver him back-to-back wins in the Group 3 event at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

Silverball has the chance to return to winning form in the 2015 Kingston Town Stakes at Rosehill Gardens this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart

Silverball has the chance to return to winning form in the 2015 Kingston Town Stakes at Rosehill Gardens this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart

Silverball still had plenty of condition on him when he returned to the races with a sixth behind finish behind Centre Pivot in the Canterbury Hurlstone RSL Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on August 15, but he produced a much improved performance when he was only narrowly denied by Magic Hurricane in the Listed Premier’s Cup (1800m) at Rosehill Gardens on August 29.

Brenton Avdulla has been booked to reunite with Silverball for the first time since he took out the Listed Lord Mayor’s Cup (2000m) at the end of his autumn campaign and Waller believes that the Kahyasi gelding is ready to return to winning form in the 2015 Kingston Town Stakes this weekend.

“Brenton Avdulla won on him last time and what a great win that was,” Waller said.

“This is the same distance and the same track and he is ready to go third-up from a spell.

“From barrier four he should get a lovely run and he will be one of our better bets of the day.”

Silverball joined the Waller stable at the start of the year after he was banned from Hong Kong racing due to a bleeding problem and he is yet to produce a poor performance since he made his Australian racing debut with a second place finish behind Himalaya Dream at Rosehill Gardens on March 14.

He recorded his maiden Australian race win with a smart performance in the Liverpool City Council Handicap (1600m) at Warwick Farm on March 25and he took out the Ross Stevenson Trophy (1600m) at Flemington on April 11.

Silverball did not have any luck whatsoever when he finished fourth behind The Bowler in the Peter Armytage Handicap (1700m) at Flemington on April 25, but he returned to winning form with a very impressive effort in the Lord Mayor’s Cup.

Silverball is currently available at 2015 Kingston Town Stakes odds of $1.85 with Ladbrokes and he is a clear favourite from Godolphin-owned Havana Cooler ($6.50), imported stayer Maurus ($7.50), Gai Waterhouse-trained King Kinshasa ($8), last start winner Skyline Blush ($10), Macedon Lodge-owned Foundry ($11), Queensland-based Kingdoms ($14) and extreme outsider Temps Voleur ($34).

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.