Waller’s Your Man

With eight runners in tomorrow’s G1 Chipping Norton S., trainer Chris Waller saddles more than half the field; and as is always the case with Sydney’s champion trainer, he has more than a few live chances. He’s Your Man (Fr) (Cape Cross {Ire}) hit his best stride in October, taking the G1 Epsom H. over this distance before finishing a narrow second in the G1 Mackinnon S. at the Melbourne Cup Carnival. He resumed with a strong first-up sixth in the too-short 1400 meter Apollo S. at Randwick Feb. 14, which has produced eight of the runners here. Another live Waller shot is Weary (Fr) (Astronomer Royal), who made an immediate impact upon arriving from Europe a year ago. He won the G3 Doncaster Prelude back in the Australian autumn and was placed in both the G1 Doncaster Mile and G1 All Aged S. Weary proved rather disappointing in three starts during the spring, but seems to have bounced back, with a win to his credit in the G2 Expressway S. Jan. 31 and a third in the Apollo. 

Likely to be favored here is the Apollo winner Contributer (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), a Godolphin import who has made a favorable impression in his three Australian outings. The 5-year-old won the G3 David Jones Cup first-up at Caulfield Oct. 18, and was a non-disgraced eighth, beaten four lengths, in the G1 Emirates S. three weeks later. The Apollo, which he won by 1 1/2 lengths, was his first run of the season. Splitting Contributer and Weary in the Apollo was the Team Hawkes-trained Ninth Legion (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), a consistent performer who won the Listed Carrington S. first-up Jan. 24. 

This event also features a pair of smart mares. The dual Group 1 winner Lucia Valentina (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) will go postward as one of the favorites off her encouraging fourth in the Apollo which, as is the case with most of these runners, was far too short a distance for her. Three-time Group 1 winner Silent Achiever (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) was fifth in the Apollo and searches for her first win since taking last autumn’s G1 Ranvet S. and G1 The BMW.