As Golden Slipper favourite Wodeton took to the racetrack at first light on Thursday, conversation soon turned to whether the sun was about to set once and for all on Rosehill Gardens.
The world’s richest two-year-old horse race will be run and won on Saturday, with champion trainer Chris Waller doing his best to promote the $5million feature – and teaching reporters the correct pronunciation of his colt, Wodeton.
Golden Slipper favourite Wodeton at first light on Thursday. Credit: Nick Moir
“I’ve been told ‘wonton’ with a ‘D’,” Waller said.
Saturday shapes as a memorable afternoon of racing, with some of the best horses in the country – including Waller’s Via Sistina – set to contest five group 1 events worth a collective $9m.
But the future of the racecourse is causing plenty of angst behind the scenes, with Australian Turf Club members set to vote on April 3 on whether to sell the land to the NSW Government for $5 billion.
Premier Chris Minns wants to build a mini city on the site, with 25,000 new homes and serviced by the Metro West line. The are plans to build a new racetrack near Penrith and improve the ATC’s existing facility at Warwick Farm, but Waller says there are concerns over the level of detail provided to members over the proposals.
Trainer Chris Waller wants more detail about the proposed sale of Rosehill.Credit: Nick Moir
Despite the romance and history associated with the Slipper at Rosehill since the race’s inception in 1957, the truth is that attendances at the western Sydney track have been falling for over 10 years.
According to ATC figures, 191,671 punters attended 30 meetings at Rosehill during the 2012-2013 season. By last financial year, that number had dipped to 95,310 across the same period.
Asked if he had a message for members before they voted, Waller, who is based at Rosehill, said: “Just think carefully. The biggest question I’d be asking is, ‘What does the future hold?’.
“If the sale goes ahead, or if the sale doesn’t go ahead, we need some clarity. It’s alright to say, ‘OK, we’ve found another parcel of land’, but until that’s signed off, I wouldn’t have a lot of confidence.
Wodeton falls short in the Todman Stakes earlier this month.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s the future of racing. It’s not [for] my generation, it’s not my children’s generation, it’s beyond that. We need to set racing up. We need to be responsible for that for the next 100 to 200 years.
“It’s hard to let go of the jewel in the crown when we don’t own Randwick, and Canterbury and Warwick Farm are smaller assets of the ATC’s portfolio. We need to get it right. It’s a big ask when you’ve only got a small amount of facts on the table.”
Pressed on the issue afterwards, Waller told this masthead he was not against the sale, but said it was hard to fully get behind it when plans for a new track to replace it were so light on detail.
“We need some better facts than saying, ‘This is what we will do’. We’ve lost a bit of faith.”
Chris Waller
“We need some better facts than saying, ‘This is what we will do’. We’ve lost a bit of faith,” Waller said. “If we get this right, it will be amazing. If you can tell me, ‘Rosehill is getting put somewhere else in the vicinity of 40km from the CBD’, I think you will have a better product in 200 years.
“But that facts haven’t been put down yet. So it’s a little premature and hard to [vote with] full confidence until you have that certainty. If there is certainty there, [then] we can build an amazing facility, or facilities.”
Waller won his first Golden Slipper two years ago with Shinzo, and was convinced Wodeton was capable of measuring up in top class after he watched his first trial.
“He’s a lovely, mature, masculine, fast colt with a good brain,” Waller said.“Shinzo was a later developer – Wodeton is more of a ready-made two-year-old.”
Wodeton, to be ridden by premier hoop James McDonald, will be fitted with winkers, which are pieces of sheepskin placed on a horse’s cheeks to help it focus on what is in front of it.
Waller kept the winkers off Wodeton during his final track gallop on the outside course proper on Thursday in the hope they would be more effective come race day.
Wodeton is $4.80 favourite with the bookies, just ahead of Godolphin filly Tempted ($5).
