In-form Waterford set for home track Lord Mayors Cup assault

Wide barrier draws in Sydney and Brisbane have convinced Chris Waller to keep Waterford closer to home to tackle the Lord Mayors Cup at his local circuit.

The gelding drew gate 13 at Eagle Farm and 14 at Rosehill and Waller couldn’t see the point in sending him on the long road trip north to take on an arguably harder field from a tough alley.

“He will stay here. He has drawn awkwardly in both places, but you may as well draw awkwardly in your backyard than go all that way,” Waller said.

“He is going really well. He was a bit stiff in the Scone Cup but ran well, and the start before that he was good.”

The Listed Lord Mayors Cup (2000m) is the feature race at Rosehill on Saturday and has been won by Waller four times in the past 11 years.

Waterford will spearhead a three-pronged assault for the champion trainer and rates as his leading chance after resuming with a solid win over 1500m at Rosehill in April and following it up with a fast-finishing second in the Scone Cup (1600m), won by Saturday’s rival Sky Lab who he meets better at the weights.

Waller confirmed stablemate Political Debate had pleased him since getting too far back in a slowly run race at Randwick last Saturday and would back-up in the 2000m feature.

The four-year-old beat all but subsequent Group 1 placegetter Fawkner Park in the Wagga Cup two starts ago and if he can reproduce that effort, he could be hard to hold out on the 53kg minimum.

“Nothing ran on in the race last week and that’s the reason for backing him up. He didn’t have a tough run,” Waller said.

“He’s got a light weight, tricky draw again but hopefully it’s a different type of race.”

European import Foniska rounds out Waller’s Cup contingent after failing to beat a rival home at her Australian debut, and while she will improve with more exposure to the local racing style, the trainer says she is ultimately looking for a rain-affected track.