Group 1 races are becoming a regular fixture for champion trainer Chris Waller.
In the six Group 1 races held so far this 2026-27 season, Waller has emerged victorious in four.
Waller has five runners entered for the Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday, and his sole participant in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Sunday will be Beiwacht.
Beiwacht, a Group 1 winner for Waller already this season having claimed the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last month, was at Caulfield on Tuesday morning for a gallop in preparation for Sunday’s contest.
Former jockey Steven Arnold, now a trusted work rider for the Waller stable, partnered Beiwacht in his hit-out.
Arnold delivered a glowing report, suggesting that despite Beiwacht being a 1400m specialist, the drop back in distance to 1200m will present no difficulties.
“I was really happy with his work this morning,” Arnold said.
“We were not here to test his ability, just a training exercise to get him out of the box and stimulate him a bit.”
“He did it all perfectly. He’s been here before, he gets on his right leads around here and he felt amazing up the straight.”
“His fitness is perfect coming back to the six furlongs (1200m).”
“I was very happy with his work and he’s ready to go.”
Beiwacht has had only one start this campaign, which was a win in the Memsie Stakes, and the Waller team has had four weeks to freshen him for Sunday’s 1200m race.
“He hasn’t done a lot between runs and he’s a natural athlete,” Arnold commented.
“I think the six furlongs holds no fears for him, and he likes to dominate those seven-furlong (1400m) races.”
“It’s probably speed dependent and how much pressure there is in the race, but if he can get up on top of the speed and get into a good rhythm, which he does, then he’ll be highly competitive.”
Arnold mentioned that Waller excels at preparing his horses for top-level competition on the designated day.
“He’s very good at aiming them at races and getting them right on the day as we saw with Angel Capital on the weekend,” Arnold stated.
“He’s the boss.”
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