Horse Racing

Royal Ascot News: Aussie ace Chris Waller has Home Affairs and Nature Strip primed

Tom ReedTom Reed10 June 2022
Chris Waller

Chris Waller

Chris Waller has a pair or rapid sprinters for Royal Ascot in the form of Home Affairs and Nature Strip and is hoping the long journey from Australia pays off.

Australian trainer Chris Waller is hoping the trans-global jaunt with Home Affairs and Nature Strip can result in Ascot glory.
The handler from Down Under, who readied Verry Elleegant for a Melbourne Cup win, watched his sprint pair do some work at Ascot in preparation for their tilt at the Summer British meeting.
Home Affairs is due to go in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes while Nature Strip is booked for the King's Stand Stakes and Waller has reported that both have settled into their Lambourn base.
"It was pretty much a perfect trip - they had two stopovers, one in Singapore and one in Dubai.
"Collectively they drank 120 litres of water on the flight and I think that's the key for anyone travelling, just making sure they're well hydrated.
"They put on a couple of kilos on the flight but now they're back to their normal weights, so they needed to do a little bit of work this morning.
"Today was their first piece of fast work for two weeks, they just needed a little bit of stimulation and I was pretty happy with what they did."
Waller is pleased with the facilities in Lambourn as he readies his charges for Ascot.
He said: "It's been great, a lovely relaxed environment. It's amazing, the facilities over here, it's awesome - the horses just enjoy themselves and are very relaxed.
"Like a lot of training centres around the world, we train in the city and everything is a rush. There's a lot of horses in a small area, but not here, it's all about the horse and it's no wonder the English, Irish and French turn up so many good winners.
"You train to your own environment, we know what works in Australia. I have the utmost respect for how hard it must be to train a horse here.
"In particular they've got to have their horses right for six months of the year, we have 12 months to get things right. If you miss a carnival, you've got another one two or three months later - but there's only one Royal Ascot.
"The way the English and Irish trainers, and the French as well, the way they prepare them for their races is quite unique. We have prep runs, we don't get them ready for a 2000 metre race first time."

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