Written by Craig Young

Courtesy of smh.com.au

LEADING trainer Chris Waller had a day to forget at Rosehill yesterday. The local rocked up having prepared 97 winners in town this season but none of his team of 10 runners could salute.

Eight of the 10 were firmers in the betting ring, with Strike One beaten as the $2.40 favourite in the Stayer’s Cup while Coup Ay Tee firmed into $1.70 in the Edmen Group Handicap but could finish only third.

‘‘I prepared them for a heavy track but it wasn’t heavy enough,’’ the Kiwi joked. ‘‘We’ve had a lot of good days this season and you’ve got to expect a bad one every now and again.

 
‘‘We haven’t been in the stewards’ room yet so there has been no real disappointing runners. A few haven’t gone as I wanted but that is the way it goes.’‘

The Waller-trained Wazn was backed from $3.40 into $2.80 favourite in the Techstaff Handicap and, after being given a dream run in transit by form jockey Tim Clark, finished second to Winning Glory.

‘‘Disappointing, he had every chance,’’ Clark said having won the opening race on impressive type Testarhythm.

In the following race Waller sent out Key West which after opening at $4 drifted markedly on-course with as much as $7 offered. The enigma ran accordingly.

We Betcha was also the medium of solid support when firming from $4.60 into $4.20 in the Saunders Insurance Brokers Handicap but after getting well back in running the second favourite could finish only third.

It all came to an end in the final event when Zakynthos Imprintz ran third after firming from $6 into $5, with the race taken out by the John O’Shea-trained gelding Romanus.

‘‘Some days you win three or four races and it is basically a fluke,’’ Waller said.

‘‘So you’ve got to fluke bad days as well.

‘‘The biggest thing for me is not to show disappointment. That is the reason I don’t bet, I never build myself up, you get the double whammy.’‘

Waller doesn’t build up the hopes of the owners either, knowing how tough it is to win races.

‘‘You’ve got to cop it on the chin and move on to the next meeting,’’ he said.

‘‘I love city racing and I’m looking forward to Wednesday’s meeting. I know we’ve got a couple of good chances.’‘