Chris Waller has won his sixth Winter Challenge with Order Again charging to victory
Chris Waller put an exclamation mark on another hugely successful season when Order Again won the final stakes race of the season at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Order Again finished powerfully under Hugh Bowman to take out the Listed $150,000 Winter Challenge (1500m).
The Hall of Fame trainer had another day out on his home track with four winners after earlier successes with Yiyi, No Compromise and Starla. With one week remaining in the 2020-21 season, Waller’s season of highlights includes:
#Securing an 11th successive Sydney trainers premiership with 165 wins.
#Trained 336.5 wins on all tracks to be a runaway leader of the national trainers premiership.
#Stable earnings for the season have topped the $43 million barrier for the third year in a row.
#Prepared 15 Group 1 winners to be the leading big-race trainer for the 10th year in succession.
#Order Again gave Waller a record sixth Winter Challenge after previous successes with Seaway (2019), Mister Sea Wolf (2018), Marenostro (2016), He’s Your Man (2014) and Coup Ay Tee (2013).
Waller has often used the Winter Challenge as a launching pad for the spring carnival – He’s Your Man went on to win the Group 1 Epsom Handicap – but the trainer has more realistic ambitions for Order Again.
“I would say he is more likely to be suited by races like The Gong and the Villiers Stakes,’’ Waller said.
“He will probably have one more run then we will look at the summer.’’
It is likely Order Again will race next in the Listed $185,000 Rowley Mile (1600m) at Hawkesbury on August 19.
Order Again ($6.50) was a conspicuous last coming into the corner but charged through the ruck to overhaul Godolphin’s Ziegfeld ($6) to win by a long head with another Waller-trained runner, Sambro ($18) a length away third.
Cisco Bay was sent out the $5 favourite and ran on without threatening to finish sixth.
Bowman’s brilliant ride on Order Again was the middle leg of a hat-trick of wins for the champion jockey who also scored on Starla (City Tattersalls Club Handicap) and Casino Mondial (Midway Handicap) to give him 50 wins for the season.
Order Again was last into the straight then was crowded for room between Cisco Bay and Chief Ironside but Bowman persevered and the rising eight-year-old charged out of the pack to collar Ziegfeld near the line.
“He felt really good going to the barriers,’’ Bowman said of Order Again.
“Sometimes you just get on a horse and they fill you with confidence on the way to the gates. This horse did that to me today.
“I was always going to have to go back to there from that wide barrier, that’s his racing pattern anyway.
“The pace was quite genuine and I always thought he was going to finish strongly but I needed to weave a little passage there at the 300m and he delivered for me when I needed him to the last 100m.’’
Waller and Bowman, who will always be indelibly linked as the trainer and jockey of the great Winx, combined for a Rosehill brace with Starla and Order Again.
“Order Again has been very consistent without a lot of things going his way but he was helped by a typically well-timed Hugh Bowman ride,’’ the trainer said.
Waller dominated the Winter Challenge with Sambro finishing third just ahead of early leader True Detective.
Sambro, a rising seven-year-old, took his career earnings to nearly $950,000 with his minor placing.
“I would really like to get Sambro’s prizemoney to $1 million,’’ Waller said.
“He has done a great job for his owners and I might send him to our Queensland stable now.’’
True Detective led until well into the straight before holding on to finish fourth.
“I think True Detective was very good but he probably needs a better barrier to help his chances,’’ Waller said.
Originally published asWaller train rolls on in Winter Challenge
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