Chris Waller is chasing a fifth win in the weight-for-age championship of Australia, the Cox Plate, with a horse that will be having his first start for the trainer.
Irish-bred El Bodegon will appear in Waller’s name on Saturday in the Group 1 race over 2040m.
Waller and connections have been involved in the ownership of the entire since his days as a yearling but left him in the UK under the care of James Ferguson.
“We got a group of people from Australia that put some money up and brought a group of horses and we gave them to James to train,” Waller said.
‘His dad John Ferguson, who we have a good relationship with, he’s been buying horses for a while.
“John bought them, James trained them, and we funded it and out of the first crop was El Bodegon.
“We’ve been there from the yearling sales, so we’ve been able to follow his progress right through.
“We get horses from the UK and don’t know a lot about them and can’t really respect some of their form but with him, we’ve watched every single run.
“The ones he hasn’t won, even his thirds and fourths have been some of his best races. You can see he puts a lot into it, tries hard and puts a lot into it.”
With four wins under the belt in the Cox Plate with Winx, Waller said it is different this time around training El Bodegon from the quarantine facility at Werribee.
“You have to bank on the work being done before they get here because they do go through some changes, but his scans and everything have all been fine,” Waller said.
There were no surprises for Waller when he laid eyes on El Bodegon and the trainer has been impressed with how the entire handles himself out on the track.
Waller said he was of a similar size to multiple Group 1 and Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant.
“He’s a neat horse,” Waller said.
“He doesn’t look a small horse, he’s not a big heavy horse, typical of a good European stayer.
“They’re not big giants, they’re athletic, he looks like he’s got a bit of condition which should give us a bit of speed.
“But he’ll need to be at his top to beat Anamoe and the like, but we’ll give it our best shot.”