Champion trainer Chris Waller will roll out a number of his stable stars at barrier trials next week including Gr.1 Epsom Handicap winner Kolding (NZ) (Ocean Park).
Kolding emerged as a genuine star in the spring with his wins in the Epsom Handicap and the inaugural AUS$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m).
Waller would like to run him in the AUS$5 million All Star Mile (1600m) but needs some guarantee of a start. The majority of the field is decided by public vote with the winners of the Gr.1 Futurity (1400m) and Blamey Stakes (Gr.2, 1600m) getting automatic entry and two or three wild cards available.
“I’ve got a slight leaning to the All Star Mile but how do you set a horse for the race if you don’t know he will get a start?” Waller said.
“I think they probably need to give people an indication what wild cards they are going to use. “So, unless I have a good indication he is going to get a start in the race we can stay home and target the Apollo Stakes (Gr.2, 1400m), Chipping Norton Stakes (Gr.1, 1600m) and George Ryder Stakes (Gr.1, 1500m), which I don’t mind. “If he was to go to the All Star Mile, I would run him in the Orr Stakes (Gr.1, 1400m) as the All Star Mile is at Caulfield this year.”