Gai Waterhouse | Gai Waterhouse News 56989 Playing By The Rules

Our Racing Manager, Emma Reeves, aids us with programming and identifies who she thinks is the best placed horse each weekend. 

Shangri La Express, Sat 11th November, Rosehill Gardens, Race 7:

I’m still in awe of what this colt did on debut. We had originally planned to trial him a second time but nominated him for the Kirkham Plate with the plan to gallop him the following day and let him decide. It was his best piece of work and Tim Clark told Adrian that if he was riding in Sydney, this is the ride he’d be chasing. Physically the colt had done a treat too and having the race experience and prizemoney in the bank for this million-dollar race all added up to making it a no brainer. I know how frustrating it can be when plans change but I really do believe that being guided by each horse is how we get our best results. I went into that race day full of optimism until the gates opened. There was so much pressure early so to win so comfortably, and by 2.5 lengths, firmly stamped him as a star of the future for me. He’s the only winner in the field on Saturday, though there’s only been four two year old races in Sydney, and although he’s drawn wide, he’s proven that he’s got natural speed and can absorb pressure. I think he’s going to be extremely hard to beat.