By Glenn Davis
Trainer Chris Waller hopes to celebrate his induction into Australian Racing’s Hall Of Fame with his third Group 1 Doomben Cup win on Saturday.
Waller has dominated Sydney racing since claiming his first Group 1 winner a decade ago and has won seven Sydney training premierships.
Waller, who will join racing royalty such as Tommy Smith and Bart Cummings when inducted on Friday, has a massive six Doomben Cup entries.
His six runners are Comin’ Through, Tom Melbourne, One Foot In Heaven, Satono Rasen, Egg Tart and Life Less Ordinary
All bar Wagga Cup winner Life Less Ordinary made their winter carnival debuts when they clashed in the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes on the Gold Coast on May 5.
Waller claimed his first Doomben Cup with Metal Bender in 2010 and won it a second time with Beaten Up in 2013.
Another win in the 2000-metre feature will see Waller join Smith and New Zealand trainer John Wheeler with three Doomben Cup wins, one win behind record holder, Lee Freedman.
Wheeler won the Doomben Cup in successive years with his former champion Rough Habit between 1991 and 1993.
Freedman holds the Doomben Cup record with four wins with Abstraction (1989), Durbridge (1994), Bush Padre (2003) and Our Ivanhowe who he co-trained with brother, Anthony, two years ago.
In latest Doomben Cup markets, Satono Rasen is the best supported Waller runner at $7.00 behind $4.40 favourite Ambitious.
Satono Rasen won three times in Japan before being sent to Waller but has not won since the Group 2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai (2200m) in May, 2015.
He has been specifically set for the Brisbane winter carnival after making his Australian debut for Waller when ninth in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes at Randwick last month.
“It’s hard to prepare a horse for Queensland if they don’t have a run and the All Aged was the only suitable 1400 metre race for him,” Waller said.
Tom Melbourne burst into Doomben Cup calculations when runner-up to Oregon’s Day in the Hollindale Stakes.
The seven-year-old previously finished eighth in the All Aged Stakes after a close fifth off a wide draw behind Happy Clapper in the Doncaster Mile at Randwick.
Tom Melbourne is flying the flag for part-owner Terry Henderson’s OTI Racing after their former Cup favourite Gailo Chop was ruled out last week with a tendon injury.
Racing Queensland webnews May 16