26 years ago, very few people had heard the name Chris Waller. In 1998 the young Kiwi from Foxton took a mare on a journey to Wyong - the rest is history

Chris Waller grew up on his parents' dairy farm in Himatangi, near Palmerston North, New Zealand. He became interested in racing watching horses such as Melbourne Cup winner Kiwi and jockeys such as Jimmy Cassidy. Waller worked for Foxton-based horse trainer, Patrick "Paddy" Busuttin who was known for his top stayer Castletown. He progressed to stable foreman and when Busuttin moved to Singapore, Waller commenced training on his own account. His first winner was Go Morgan at Trentham Racecourse in 1997. On 12 February 2000, he won the Group 3 Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m) at Wingatui with Ripon By.

In 1998, Waller took a horse called Party Belle to New South Wales to race. She won three races in Australia, a 2100m maiden at Wyong in September 1998 ridden by Opie Bosson, followed by a Class 1 and a Class 2 at Kembla Grange before attempting but failing in a listed race at Randwick. Party Belle then raced in New Zealand unsuccessfully before Waller took her back to Sydney the following winter when, she won three more races in May 1999 at Randwick and Warwick Farm. Waller applied for and obtained 20 horse boxes at Rosehill and commenced training there in 2000. Initially he had limited funds but he slowly built his training operation up over time. His first Group one winner came in April 2008 when he won the Doncaster Handicap with Triple Honour. He won it again in 2010 with Rangirangdoo, a terrific horse who finished in the first three in seven Group 1 races in Sydney between 2009 and 2012. Sacred Falls, who had won the G1 NZ 2000 Guineas from Tony Pike’s Cambridge stable five months previously, gave the trainer his third Doncaster in 2013, saddling up the trifecta and then won the race again the following year with Kermedec.

Having started the new century on the bottom rung of the ladder, Chris Waller moved into third place in the Sydney trainers premiership in 2007/08, behind Gai Waterhouse and Peter Snowden. In 2010/11 he became champion trainer for the first time. During the 2017/18 season he trained 189 winners in town, and sent out eight individual horses to win a nationwide total of 13 Group 1 races (seven in Sydney and three each in Melbourne and Brisbane). In addition to Winx, Who Shot Thebarman and D’Argento, his Group 1 Winners during the season were Shillelagh, Unforgotten, Comin’ Through, Youngstar and The Autumn Sun. Yes Yes Yes produced a scintillating performance to win the $14 million The Everest at Randwick in track-record time. Later in the spring, Waller captured the inaugural $7.5 million Golden Eagle with Kolding. Waller’s 2019/20 season featured another nine Group 1 victories, courtesy of Nature Strip, Verry Elleegant, Funstar, Kolding and Come Play With Me.

But there are three horses Chris Waller's name will always be indelibly linked with. Firstly, the champion sprint mare Nature Strip, who retired in 2023 as the winner of 22 of his 44 starts along with nine minor placings and more than $20.7 million in prizemoney. She yielded wins in The Everest, three TJ Smith Stakes and two Darley Classics, but her crowning glory was proving she was a world-beater at Royal Ascot, making a mess of the best sprinters in the northern hemisphere in the King's Stand Stakes with JMac aboard.
Then there was the mighty Verry Elleegant, another superstar mare produced from the stable who won 11 Group one races. From humble beginnings winning a lowly maiden at Ruakaka, in the capable hands of Waller, Verry Elleegant went on to win the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup.

However, it was his association with WINX, arguably the greatest racehorse in the modern era of the sport that wrote Chris Waller's named into racing folklore. The wondermare Winx raced 43 time for 37 wins and three placings, winning 33 in a row and amassing a world record 25 Group one wins, earning $26,451,175 in prize money. The horse inspired a nation and was close to the heart of Waller as he carefully handled her assent towards greatness. As Winx achieved win after win, Waller seemed stunned at her ability each and every race. Along with the ownership group, he was understandly highly emotional after her 37th and final win in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April.13th 2019. It was a wonderful journey for the trainer. The horse meant so much to Chris Waller, that he hired a helicopter and flew up to see her first foal the day after she gave birth to her daughter in October 2022.

Chris Waller has continued on with the success of horses such as Fangirl, the stayer, Soulcombe, Espiona and a stable of future stars. At this stage there appears no slowing down for the amazing trainer from New Zealand.