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The dry start to winter has Chris Waller quietly confident his spring team will have had a better build up for the upcoming carnival than 12 months ago and that has him excited about what’s ahead.
He said with persistent rain last year and through the winter it took the sting out of a lot of horses, particularly the youngsters.
Of course the champion trainer always has a strong presence in the carnival but it's ominous when he says the platform is sturdier heading into spring 2023.
"We're in a much better position this winter compared to last winter without a doubt,'' Chris Waller said.
"We've come through a rebuilding phase and it's exciting. We've got a great crop of two-year-olds and even our three-year-olds are very strong.
"It's hard to name them all but the likes of Zougotcha, Lindermann, Osipenko are just some of the three-year-olds and obviously two-year-olds like Shinzo and Militarize and a few that we've held back."
One filly that will be part of Waller's spring arsenal is Tutta La Vita who posted her first win in the Agency Real Estate Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill and she'll be aimed at the Princess Series.
Tutta La Vita was sent forward by Kerrin Mcevoy to sit outside the leader and while she looked under pressure on the turn she rallied to run down the leader Canadian Ruler and win by just under half a length.
Zougotcha won the Silver Shadow (1200), missed the Furious (1200m) then won the Tea Rose (1400m) and Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) for Waller last year.
It's likely Tutta La Vita will follow a similar program and not contest every leg of the series but the Flight will be the aim for the filly by star galloper The Autumn Sun.
"Kerrin just took a bit of bad luck out of the equation and rode her a little bit further forward and it took away that acceleration she showed last start,'' Waller said.
"She got the job done and is a two-year-old winner and she can go out and come back as a really nice three-year-old."
Cummings confident extreme's comeback is on track
The chances of dual Group 1 winning filly She's Extreme returning to racing this spring are increasing with trainer Anthony Cummings receiving a positive report during the week on her recovery from injury.
She's Extreme injured her off-fore tendon in trackwork at the start of February and it ruled her out of the autumn carnival, at the time Cummings wasn't sure if she'd race again this year.
"It wasn't a bowed tendon, the fibres were disturbed and there was some damage there but the recovery right from the get-go has been very good and there's a great chance she'll be back at full strength some time in the spring,'' he said.
"It's a matter of when she comes back, what stage she's at, and what the recommendations are in terms of the work we can do with her and work out a plan from there."
The rising four-year-old, who denied Fireburn the two-year-old triple crown by winning the Champagne Stakes last year, hasn't raced since her comfortable VRC Oaks win in November.
She's currently in light work with Lee Everson, who also aided the likes of It's Me in her recovery from a tendon injury, in Victoria and the reports are that he's pleased with her progress.
"The expectation is that she will probably come back into the stable in six weeks time but that timing will be up to (Lee) and when he's happy,'' Cummings said.
McLucas bound for Tulloch Lodge
Apprentice Amy Mclucas celebrated her sixth Highway win this season with the news she'll be extending her apprenticeship and joining the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable on loan.
The 23-year-old has been based at Goulburn but in recent months has made the trip to Sydney to ride work for Tulloch Lodge and it's paid off, she rode her second winner for the stable on So United at Warwick Farm last Monday.
She said it made to sense to extend her apprenticeship, due to end this week, given she was a late starter in the saddle and is only now starting to gain some momentum.
"I'm going to try and get as long as I can, I've got a fair bit of my claim left,'' McLucas said.
"I've been working hard for (Waterhouse & Bott) for a while now and to get some opportunities is good."
It was an overdue win in the TAB Highway (1200m) for Acappella Sun thought it wasn't all smooth sailing for McLucas despite jumpoing from the inside gate.
She stuck to the fence and gained ground approaching the turn but over-reacted when things got a bit tight, once she was clear she sprinted sharply.
"She was a bit hesitant to take the run but she was just a bit too good,'' she said.
Tough Zoumon earns shot at Grafton Cup
Adrian Bott has been looking for the right horse to take to next month's time honoured Grafton Cup carnival and lightly raced stayer Zoumon announced himself as an ideal type with a gutsy win in the Listed $160,000 Toyota Forklifts WJ McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill.
The four-year-old led all the way but Punter's Intelligence sectionals reveal he only really got away with two sectionals you could describe as comfortable, running 12.44 (1200m-1000m) and 12.67 (1000m-800m) as he was kept busy early by Bartholomeu Dais.
"There was a bit of pressure throughout, they kept him honest,'' Bott said.
"I was still happy enough where he was, he seemed comfortable and doing it well. It falls into his favour being able to make it a true staying test particularly with that weight, and make others carry their weight.
"Tim (Clark) was able to rate him nicely and knew when he was challenged he would be able to find."
Bartholomeu Dias ultimately weakened to run last which left Zoumon a sitting shot but he held off the challenge of Bold Mac to record his sixth win from 18 starts.
Bott said Zoumon could head to the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) on July 1 but the Listed $200,000 Grafton Cup (2350m) on July 13 holds plenty of appeal.
"It's always a good carnival at Grafton and he might be the right horse for it,'' Bott said.
"We wanted to see him second-up here and against that class and there's a bit of improvement to come. I'm sure he can be effective over the mile and a half."
With Surf Dancer winning his way into the inaugural Big Dance through last year's South Grafton Cup, Bott said he's also on the lookout for an ideal horse for the July 9 feature.
Lees lauds apprentice talent as Gibbons skips clear
Dylan Gibbons set the scene for an enthralling champion apprentice battle in July with another winner at Rosehill on Saturday to take him five clear of Zac Lloyd ahead of starting a suspension.
In the period while Lloyd has been out on yet another suspension this season, Gibbons has collected 10 city winners to take the lead and sit himself second with 63 wins on the Sydney Jockeys Premiership behind James McDonald. Tyler Schiller is third in the apprentices' race with 55 wins.
Gibbons' master Kris Lees praised the young gun for his front-running ride on Brudenell to win the Bisley Workwear Handicap (1100m) and said he's looking forward to watching three highly talented apprentices battle it out for the reason of the season.
"He needs to get a bit of a break on young Zac because he's going to get good support over the next few weeks. It's a good contest,'' Lees said.
"They're running second, third, and fourth in the premiership. It's never happened before.
"It was a good, positive, ride from Dylan. He got across nicely, was able to get a little breather midrace. While I would have liked see him put more of a gap on them when they straightened but he did have a big weight."
The win took Gibbons past the 100 win mark for the season to 100.5 and only Aaron Bullock, James McDonald and Ben Looker have ridden more winners in NSW in 2022-23.
