A right royal stamp of approval landed in the inbox of Australian trainer Chris Waller earlier this year after Chalk Stream won in Sydney on Australia Day.
King Charles inherited all of his mother’s racehorses when she passed away in September last year.
Australia Day Cup winner Chalk Stream.Credit:Getty
That included five-year-old stayer Chalk Stream, the only Australian-trained horse the queen had left.
And while there were fears the King may have disbanded the late queen’s worldwide racing operations, Waller said the email he received from King Charles displayed the 74-year-old’s passion and interest in the sport.
“He sent a beautiful email post win, and it was great that he engaged, and he’s aware of what’s going on,” Waller said, adding the king wrote of his enjoyment receiving updates on the horse’s health and training regime.
“The horse had a problem with the barriers and the guy who was re-educating the horse, Dan Robinson, was sending us information, and he loved it.
Leading trainer Chris Waller.Credit:Getty
“It really helped him engage with what was going on, and what a horse and ownership is all about.”
Chalk Stream had 10 starts in Great Britain for William Haggas, but Haggas thought the stayer would be better suited in Australia, where Queen Elizabeth had not raced a horse since Bold Sniper, who last ran in 2018. Another horse, Carlton House, raced for Gai Waterhouse, placing third in the 2014 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney at his final start.
Chalk Stream had five winless starts in Australia before the queen’s death, but won his first race Down Under at Warwick Farm on Australia Day, to the delight of King Charles.
Chalk Stream will race again on Friday night in a listed race at Moonee Valley, where jockey Regan Bayliss will don the royal purple and gold silks.
Waller was a guest speaker at the second day of the Asian Racing Conference in Melbourne, where he discussed the benefits and challenges of ownership and syndication in Australia.
Waller, who trained champion racehorse Winx, said he would like to see more done to improve ownership experience in Australia.
He added that young owners were yearning for as much communication as possible, as close to real time as possible.
“I can see Nature Strip coming back for his first trial and James McDonald having a microphone on, like you see in the Twenty20 cricket, not when they’re bowling the final ball of the game but at certain parts,” he said.
“Before the barriers, Chris might be talking to James saying, ‘Don’t do too much with him this morning, make sure he begins cleanly’ and things like that, crossing to James 200 metres past the start and James saying, ‘he’s going good, he’s feeling great, and I’ve got to leave you now and concentrate on getting him around this corner’.
“That’s what you can do to bring people in from a trial perspective, let alone a race perspective. Who knows where it could lead.
“That’s what participants want, they want interaction.
“It might be going to Nature Strip’s box first thing in the morning and see what we do with him. You name it, there’s so many different things, and with that, I think we can engage a bigger audience.”
Asked for his thoughts on the state feud between Racing NSW and Racing Victoria, which has ended up in the Supreme Court, Waller said there had been a lot of benefits to come from the rivalry.
“This is my view; Racing Victoria has done a great job going with Racing NSW and increasing prizemoney, feature races, Saturday races, including pop-up races like the All-Star Mile,” he said.
“That’s what is driving the investment at the moment, that’s what’s driving the breeding industry.
“Queensland is following because they have to, they cannot get left behind, so they’ve become more competitive. I think people need to understand what’s happened is down to good administration and we need to respect it.
“The current problems, I’ve got no idea about what the latest issues are. Yes, it would be great to get pattern committee working as one, I’m sure it could be done, I’m sure it’s not that hard. I’m sure Australian Guineas and the Randwick Guineas don’t have to be on the same day.
“We have seen the stars and the main actors are the horses, and we need the main horses running as often as we can, together.”
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