Declichy Boulevard achieved its fifth victory on the day’s program for acclaimed trainer Chris Waller, demonstrating a powerful finish to claim the $1 million Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m) at Royal Randwick.
While Waller was at Flemington, his presence was felt at Randwick from the outset, with his two-year-olds Exo Velocity and Tour De Force securing a quinella in the Kirkham Plate. The winners continued to flow for the Waller stable; Central Europe was highly impressive in the Group 3 $1 million Callander-Presnell (1600m), and Lindermann secured his third consecutive win in the Group 2 $750,000 Craven Plate (1800m). Lazzura proved superior in the Group 2 $2 million The Invitation (1400m), with Declichy Boulevard’s victory capping a remarkable winning streak for the Hall of Fame trainer.
At Flemington, Waller also trained Soverato to win the Group 3 $300,000 Tesio Stakes (1600m), and his stablemates Birdman and Aeliana finished second and third respectively in the prestigious Group 1 $6 million Cox Plate (2040m).
“All the hard work that they put in, Chris and the whole team, to have days like this, it is a day to remember, it is certainly a red letter day for the stable,” stated Waller’s stable representative, Darren Beadman.
Declichy Boulevard ($3.20) provided Waller with his fifth Randwick winner when she overtook the favourite, Linebacker ($3.10), by a long neck. Welcometotheshow ($6) finished a further one-and-a-half lengths back in third.
Linebacker had positioned itself forward and found a gap in the straight, establishing what appeared to be a winning advantage. However, Declichy Boulevard launched an unstoppable late surge.
“With her pattern of racing, the race set up for her with a good speed up-front and a lot of pressure early,” Beadman commented on Declichy Boulevard’s performance. “She just sat back there, Tommy (Berry, jockey) was back there smoking his pipe, then got her into a three-wide line with cover and she chimed into it ‘lovely’.”
“She has always been a quality mare but has had a few injuries along the way. The owners gave the time to get over it and they are reaping the rewards now.”
Star jockey Tommy Berry secured back-to-back feature race victories for Waller on Lazzura and Declichy Boulevard, completing his own feature-race treble. He had earlier won the Listed $200,000 Brian Crowley Stakes (1200m) on the Richard and Will Freedman-trained Revolina.
Berry credited stable jockey James McDonald for his guidance on the best way to ride Declichy Boulevard. “I had a good chat with James (McDonald, jockey) during the week and he said just bank on her turn of foot,” Berry revealed. “He said don’t ride her out of her comfort zone but she tested my patience there. She began so well and I had to give up what was a good start but I just knew I couldn’t be caught wide.”
“They ran along early, pulled up in the middle stages but then I got a beautiful cart into the race on the back of Brave One. But she had to do a good job to pick up the second horse. Linebacker is a good tough campaigner and he’s a Group 1 winner. I don’t think it is going to be too long before you see her in the Group 1 circle, too.”
Declichy Boulevard is now slated to compete in the Group 3 $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m) at Rosehill on November 7. Beadman is confident that Declichy Boulevard possesses the form and stamina to extend her winning run over the 1800m distance.
“The 1800m at Rosehill is like a mile at Randwick,” he stated. “So, especially being back at her home track it will work out perfectly for her.”
For those looking to back Declichy Boulevard in the Five Diamonds, check out the latest racing odds at Australian betting sites.