Prestigious trainer Chris Waller ticked off the final Sydney Group 1 absent from his ledger, as champion hoop James McDonald sustained his clinic with a fifth stakes conquest at Royal Randwick Saturday.
Waller’s tally reached 188 Group 1 wins, this one uniquely his breakthrough in the Canterbury Stakes.
He enhanced the feat by readying the Canterbury Stakes top three, Joliestar reeling in Beiwacht with Lady Shenandoah denied in third through no fault of her own.
“There’s still a few Group 1 races we haven’t won but it is good to get the set in Sydney,” Waller said.
“I feel the 1300m is just about the perfect trip for Joliestar, in 1200m races she needs speed and for them to really roll along but 1300m is her sweet spot.
“She has never been going better and we will aim her at the TJ Smith Stakes next and then all going well we will take her to Royal Ascot.
“Beiwacht was very good and Lady Shenandoah didn’t have much luck. They ran really well but I’m not sure where they will go next.”
McDonald granted Joliestar ($2.25) the perfect passage before unleashing to nab the tough $9 Beiwacht by a half length, as Lady Shenandoah ($4.20) ran third, denied by just over a length amid wide work from her wide post.
In red-hot shape, McDonald added the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes on Joliestar to his four earlier hits: Generosity in the Challenge Stakes, Pinito (Aspiration Quality), Beadman (Fireball Stakes) and Chayan (Reisling Stakes).
Joliestar furnished McDonald’s 127th Group 1 victory and his 52nd with Waller.
“I’m lucky to be riding some great horses and working with a fantastic trainer in Chris (Waller),” McDonald said.
“It’s just a lovely working relationship, the horses are performing. They are always turned out immaculate, they are here to win and as long as we get a little bit of luck throughout the race they do the job.
“Chris is a champion and I’m just hanging onto the coat tails really.”
Her fourth Group 1 score propelled Joliestar’s earnings north of $7.1 million.
The result earns her an invitation to England for June’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at elite Royal Ascot.
McDonald saw this as ideal for exporting the advancing six-year-old Joliestar.
“She is in the best form of her career because she is so tractable now,” McDonald said.
“When I peeled out I thought ‘it’s her time to shine’, she’s had everything go her way.
“She was running down a really good colt and she’s a top horse herself, so take nothing away from the second horse, Beiwacht, he was really great.”
Waller hailed McDonald’s ride as textbook, with Joliestar’s run spot-on.
“It was a beautiful ride. She had a nice draw, so everything set up well,” Waller said.
“She’s just come back really well, she’s a more mature horse. She knows her job and just does it well.”
Joliestar’s Royal Ascot mission is in motion, Waller targeting a Nature Strip-style outcome from four years earlier.
“We know the date she’s leaving and everything like that so that’s how far we’ve gone into the program,” he said.
“Every race you’ve got to come back safe and do the little things right and keep her good form. But one more run, that’s the TJ Smith Stakes back to 1200m and then on the plane.
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