Chris Waller has Boban, Hawkspur and Weary in the 2014 Missile Stakes at Royal Randwick on Saturday and the leading Sydney trainer admits that he would be happy with midfield finishes for his classy trio.
Chris Waller is not particularly bullish about his chances of winning the Missile Stakes at Royal Randwick this weekend. Photo by: Daniel Costello
Boban, Hawkspur and Weary have all shown that they are capable of competing at the highest level of racing and have won over sprinting trips in the past, but Waller believes that top-line sprinters Rebel Dane and Sweet Idea will be difficult to beat if they are at their best in the Missile Stakes.
“You can’t take away class and that goes with quite a few horses in the race,” Waller said.
“The obvious sprinter in the race to my eye is Rebel Dane and Sweet Idea.
“If they are primed up, how can a middle distance horse beat them if they are not primed up?
“It is very hard to steer away from the fact that we are racing against some pretty good sprinters.
“I will be happy with midfield finishes for all of mine because I know that they will take plenty of benefit, but if there is a chink in their armor or those horses haven’t come up, these boys won’t shirk their task and will keep them honest.”
Hawkspur and Weary have both showed a degree of tactical versatility during their racing careers to date, while Boban is generally settled towards the tail of the field in the early stages of his races and Waller revealed that he will be instructing jockeys Glyn Schofield (Boban), Tye Angland (Hawkspur) and Hugh Bowman (Weary) to let their mounts settle at their own pace in the early stages of the Missile Stakes.
“I think that all of our instructions to our jockeys in this race will be the same; let them jump and settle where they want to be, don’t put them under too much pressure early and let them quicken up when they are ready rather than taking them out of their comfort zone 800 metres from home,” Waller said.
“It is going to give us a good foundation for all of our horses that we all hold in high regard and they should have good preps down the track.”
Weary was the early market mover in the 2014 Missile Stakes betting market at Ladbrokes Australia, but he is back out to a quote of $10, while there has been a sprinkling of support for Boban ($9 into $8.50) and Hawkspur ($41 into $34).
