Joliestar to bypass Stradbroke Handicap and Tatt's Tiara
Joliestar was among the favourites at $11 for next Saturday's Group 1 $3 million Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) and was at top of betting at $2.50 for the Group 1 Tatts Tiara (1400m) on June 28 but Waller said the mare has earned a spell.
'She won't have another run in Queensland, that's it, she's having a holiday and we will start planning for the spring,'' Waller told Sky Racing Radio.
Although Waller hasn't locked in Joliestar's spring campaign, it will be tempting to again aim the mare at the $20 million The TAB Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick on October 18.
She finished an unlucky seventh behind Bella Nipotina in the world's richest turf race last year.
' James McDonald is adamant she should have gone close to winning The Everest last year,'' Waller said.
'But I think it is on the short side of her distance range, she is probably better over 1300m or 1400m.
'It is a tricky race, The Everest, it is obviously the race everyone wants to win but you sacrifice a few other Group 1 races along the way.
'We will see how she is the next few days and work out a plan towards the spring.'
Joliestar is currently on the fourth line of The Everest betting at $11 behind Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising, who has firmed to $1.80 after he was selected for the slot now owned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
With three Group 1 races remaining for the season, Waller hopes to enhance his new national record of 19 majors with the Stradbroke and $1 million JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Waller said he rates Hidden Achievement as his stable's 'top seed' for the JJ Atkins.
'Hidden Achievement was beaten last start but we saw enough merit in his run to feel he can go close to winning,'' Waller said.
'Hopefully, we have James (McDonald) aboard which makes a huge difference and is a big help to my team.
'In the Stradbroke, we are just working out if Coleman gets in and we might run Firestorm and Konasana.'
At Canterbury on Monday, Waller has runners across seven races including first starter Central Coast in the Drinkwise Plate (1250m) to open the program.
Central Coast, a superbly bred colt by sire sensation Wootton Bassett out of triple Group 1 winner Sunlight, was purchased for $1.4 million at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale last year.
With his big pedigree and impressive recent barrier trial form, it is not surprising Central Coast is the $2.40 TAB Fixed Odds favourite to make a winning debut.
McDonald, who rode his 15th Group 1 winner for the season on Joliestar and is closing in on 'Miracle' Mal Johnston's all-time record of 16 majors set in 1979-80, is on Central Coast and also partners Waller-trained favourites Gatekeeper ($4.60) in the TAB Handicap (1250m) and Pink Shalala ($2.50) in the closer, the Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1550m).
McDonald has seven rides on the eight-race Canterbury program including for the Godolphin stable on promising filly Blue Willow, the $3.50 favourite for the Ranvet Handicap (1550m).
The James Cummings -trained Blue Willow is a half-sister to former Horse of the Year Anamoe, who McDonald rode in eight of the champion's nine Group 1 wins.
Blue Willow makes her city debut at Canterbury after three starts at Newcastle for two minor placings before a dominant maiden win in very heavy going two weeks ago.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
12 minutes ago
- The Australian
Swans coach backs Heeney, Grundy for All-Australian selection
The Sydney Swans will miss the finals after making last season's grand final but should have at least two All-Australians, according to coach Dean Cox. He's declared superstar Isaac Heeney's season has been 'as good a year' as any contenders, with ruckman Brodie Grundy also vying for a blazer, but the first-year coach knows his team hasn't won enough games to have many Swans players spoken about. But amid the 'frustration and disappointment' at failing to back up last season's effort, Cox was adamant Heeney, who has kicked 35 goals, including five against reigning premiers Brisbane last week in a revenge win, had been a shining light and deserved recognition with a third All-Australian nod. 'I've looked at stats of players that are being talked about in the All-Australian team and All-Australian captains, Isaac's had as good a year as all of them,' Cox said. 'Unfortunately, we haven't won enough games for a specific player to be spoken about. He's been phenomenal for our footy club. Not many players can do what he does in the midfield and then go forward and turn a game as well. Isaac Heeney has been in All-Australian form. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images 'I think the entire AFL industry admires what Isaac can do on a football field, but as soon as you're not in the top couple of teams, you don't get spoken about as frequently. 'That doesn't mean that he hasn't had the year he had last year.' Grundy, who has been sidelined with concussion, has been a powerhouse in the ruck this season and is vying with Melbourne captain Max Gawn for the starting ruck spot in the team of the year. He could also earn a place on the bench, with a club best and fairest award also in his sights. Cox said his team not playing finals had started to sink in with the coaches and players, but a strong finish to the season, backing up the last-start win over the Lions against premiership contenders Geelong this weekend, would bring some momentum for 2026. 'There's a bit of frustration and disappointment that we're not playing finals. That's what we start every year chasing and the reality is we can't do that. Once we found that out it was deflating, it's what the players strive so hard to get to,' Cox said. 'We'll reflect when the season finishes why we didn't get there. There are a number of things we need to work on. We needed to work on them in the back half of the year but also the pre-season as well.'
Sydney Morning Herald
40 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Harry Gill, Warnie and the Flying Man: Crowd interactions unite us like little else
Harry does so and ... the ball sticks! GOT HIM, YES! Mahvellous catch, that. The cameras pan to Harry, as the whole thing is played in slo-mo on the big screen, and it is realised he didn't even spill a drop of the grog. The perfect catch. Oh, how the crowd roars, and the nation has a rare moment of complete unity. 'The catch was phenomenal,' Tom Birmingham of the Hello Sport podcast sagely observes. 'Two cans in the hand means he's an alpha male. He looked excited and pleased with himself, but also, in a way, like he does it all the time. This will be shown forever, like that guy smoking the dart behind the sight screen.' And you, Harry? What did you make of it? 'Happy with it,' he says with a smile. 'My phone is blowing up ... I wish I had a durry in my mouth.' And a star is born. Another way to fame for fans, of course, is when they interact with the players in a way that causes headlines. In Australian sport, an infamous occasion was five decades ago when the third streaker that day jumped the fence to disrupt the second Test between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park. Our own Greg Chappell, frustrated beyond measure, chased the fellow – Leonard Bruce McCauley – and gave him a couple of smacks on the backside for his trouble. Marvellous stroke that. (McCauley sued for assault, lost and was fined for disorderly conduct. I'd like to think he declined to take his seat for the short court process, for comfort's sake.) And a globally famous episode was three decades ago, when Manchester United were playing against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, in January 1995, and Man U's Eric Cantona was sent off, only to receive a gobful of abuse from a spectator, in the front row, one Matthew Simmons. Something in Cantona snapped, and he launched a kung-fu-style kick right at him, connecting, and causing the immortal headline in the News of the World the next morning: 'THE SHIT HITS THE FAN!' (Cantona, was given a nine-month suspension and a £20,000 fine.) But, back to the catches. For my money, there'll never be a better fan catch than what happened one night during an NFL match between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. When, on September 11, 1995, Chicago's Kevin Butler kicked a field goal– call it Frank Hyde, for the old days – It's high enough, it's long enough, and it's straight between the posts – the ball kept lazily spinning, arcing towards the stands. Suddenly, from the front row, a young Chicago fan, Mike Pantazis, leapt into the abyss to actually catch it, before plummeting some five or six metres to the ground, still with ball in hand! He tossed the ball to an official and resumed his seat, as the crowd went berserk. You honestly have to see it to believe it. Very, very occasionally, the fan who catches the ball already has a fame to rival the players. Such was the case in a tennis match between Roger Federer and Andrew Murray at the Australian Open in 2013, when Federer attempted an impossible return from a Murray lob, only for the ball to fly into the crowd.
The Age
40 minutes ago
- The Age
Harry Gill, Warnie and the Flying Man: Crowd interactions unite us like little else
Harry does so and ... the ball sticks! GOT HIM, YES! Mahvellous catch, that. The cameras pan to Harry, as the whole thing is played in slo-mo on the big screen, and it is realised he didn't even spill a drop of the grog. The perfect catch. Oh, how the crowd roars, and the nation has a rare moment of complete unity. 'The catch was phenomenal,' Tom Birmingham of the Hello Sport podcast sagely observes. 'Two cans in the hand means he's an alpha male. He looked excited and pleased with himself, but also, in a way, like he does it all the time. This will be shown forever, like that guy smoking the dart behind the sight screen.' And you, Harry? What did you make of it? 'Happy with it,' he says with a smile. 'My phone is blowing up ... I wish I had a durry in my mouth.' And a star is born. Another way to fame for fans, of course, is when they interact with the players in a way that causes headlines. In Australian sport, an infamous occasion was five decades ago when the third streaker that day jumped the fence to disrupt the second Test between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park. Our own Greg Chappell, frustrated beyond measure, chased the fellow – Leonard Bruce McCauley – and gave him a couple of smacks on the backside for his trouble. Marvellous stroke that. (McCauley sued for assault, lost and was fined for disorderly conduct. I'd like to think he declined to take his seat for the short court process, for comfort's sake.) And a globally famous episode was three decades ago, when Manchester United were playing against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, in January 1995, and Man U's Eric Cantona was sent off, only to receive a gobful of abuse from a spectator, in the front row, one Matthew Simmons. Something in Cantona snapped, and he launched a kung-fu-style kick right at him, connecting, and causing the immortal headline in the News of the World the next morning: 'THE SHIT HITS THE FAN!' (Cantona, was given a nine-month suspension and a £20,000 fine.) But, back to the catches. For my money, there'll never be a better fan catch than what happened one night during an NFL match between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. When, on September 11, 1995, Chicago's Kevin Butler kicked a field goal– call it Frank Hyde, for the old days – It's high enough, it's long enough, and it's straight between the posts – the ball kept lazily spinning, arcing towards the stands. Suddenly, from the front row, a young Chicago fan, Mike Pantazis, leapt into the abyss to actually catch it, before plummeting some five or six metres to the ground, still with ball in hand! He tossed the ball to an official and resumed his seat, as the crowd went berserk. You honestly have to see it to believe it. Very, very occasionally, the fan who catches the ball already has a fame to rival the players. Such was the case in a tennis match between Roger Federer and Andrew Murray at the Australian Open in 2013, when Federer attempted an impossible return from a Murray lob, only for the ball to fly into the crowd.
