THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - SYDNEY RACING HURTING UNDER WALLER DOMINANCE

By Graham Potter | Sunday, September 28, 2014

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily

When a trainer builds his team into such a dominating force that he has close to a stranglehold on racing in his home precinct it says much for his training expertise, his business acumen and, not least, his public relations nous.

When that trainer is achieving that level of success in a Metropolitan area his results have to be recognised as a significant achievement and all credit has to be given to him for advancing his career and status to such lofty heights.

So let there be no misunderstanding.

Chris Waller can take a bow for taming the tiger that was Sydney racing.

Waller can do so firmly in the knowledge that he is not to blame directly for the disturbing, negative side effects that have arisen as a spin off from his over-whelming, record breaking success and his continued momentum which threatens to smother all but his strongest of rivals.

There is no logic to suggest that Waller should slow down just because the others can’t keep up but, as innocent as he is in that argument, the undeniable fact is that Waller’s dominance is having a serious adverse effect on the way both fellow participants and punters have come to view racing in Sydney.

Waller’s numbers dominate the general race-fields line-up in Sydney. Is that because his numbers are so high, or because he has chased the opposition away?

Perhaps there is a half-truth in both of those questions. Either way, fewer rivals than would be considered the norm are turning up for the fight.

As a consequence, Waller often has multiple horses in a race. He therefore has multiple chances which, more often than not, have translated into a winning result. In fact a Waller Quinella or trifecta is now not uncommon.

So, for want of a better description, rival trainers are somewhat gun-shy at time of acceptances and, for those brave enough to stand their ground, their horses are generally both outnumbered and outgunned in the running by better bred, better performed Waller runners.

Repeatedly being put to the sword in these circumstances can quickly take the edge off the chasers enthusiasm for the task. Next time around, those entries might bail at the acceptance stage.

As for the punters, trying to second guess which Waller runner might salute has also not always been a happy past-time and that is streets away from the preferred test of finding a winner in a fair-sized, competitive line-up.

So while Waller has set sail full steam ahead, those being pounded by his back-wash are not in such a happy position … and that includes the good ship Sydney Racing.

What Sydney has at the moment is not a healthy situation.

It won’t be easy being at the helm of Sydney Racing moving forward with the force of the Waller whirlwind driving you one way while you need to plot an alternative, more all-inclusive path towards clear sailing for a greater number of stakeholders.

But it is route that somehow has to be mapped, otherwise I fear the consequences.

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