Declichy Boulevard achieved its fifth victory on the program for Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller, showcasing a powerful late surge to win the $1 million Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m) at Royal Randwick today.
While Waller was occupied at Flemington, his influence was strongly felt at Randwick from the opening race. His two-year-olds, Exo Velocity and Tour De Force, delivered a quinella in the Kirkham Plate. The winners continued to stream in for the Waller stable, with Central Europe delivering an impressive performance in the Group 3 $1 million Callander-Presnell (1600m), and Lindermann extending his winning streak to three in the Group 2 $750,000 Craven Plate (1800m). Lazzura then demonstrated her ability in the Group 2 $2 million The Invitation (1400m), before Declichy Boulevard’s win capped off a remarkable winning run for the Hall of Fame trainer.
At Flemington, Waller also prepared Soverato for victory in the Group 3 $300,000 Tesio Stakes (1600m). Furthermore, his stablemates Birdman and Aeliana secured second and third places, respectively, in the elite Group 1 $6 million Cox Plate (2040m).
“All the hard work that they put in, Chris and the whole team, to have days like this, it is a day to remember, it is certainly a red letter day for the stable,” declared Waller’s stable representative, Darren Beadman.
Declichy Boulevard ($3.20) provided Waller with his fifth Randwick winner when she ran down Linebacker ($3.10 favourite) to win by a long neck. Welcometotheshow ($6) finished a further one-and-a-half lengths adrift in third.
Linebacker had taken up a forward position and found a split between runners at the top of the straight, establishing what appeared to be a race-winning lead. However, Declichy Boulevard unleashed a decisive late surge.
“With her pattern of racing, the race set up for her with a good speed up-front and a lot of pressure early,” Beadman commented on Declichy Boulevard’s race strategy. “She just sat back there, Tommy (Berry, jockey) was back there smoking his pipe, then got her into a three-wide line with cover and she chimed into it ‘lovely’.”
“She has always been a quality mare but has had a few injuries along the way. The owners gave the time to get over it and they are reaping the rewards now.”
Star jockey Tommy Berry achieved a notable feat, securing victories in successive major races for Waller on Lazzura and Declichy Boulevard. This completed his own feature-race treble, following his win on the Richard and Will Freedman-trained Revolina in the Listed $200,000 Brian Crowley Stakes (1200m).
Berry attributed his success on Declichy Boulevard to advice from stable jockey James McDonald. “I had a good chat with James (McDonald, jockey) during the week and he said just bank on her turn of foot,” Berry stated. “He said don’t ride her out of her comfort zone but she tested my patience there. She began so well and I had to give up what was a good start but I just knew I couldn’t be caught wide.”
“They ran along early, pulled up in the middle stages but then I got a beautiful cart into the race on the back of Brave One. But she had to do a good job to pick up the second horse. Linebacker is a good tough campaigner and he’s a Group 1 winner. I don’t think it is going to be too long before you see her in the Group 1 circle, too.”
Declichy Boulevard is now anticipated to take her place in the Group 3 $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m) at Rosehill on November 7. Beadman expressed confidence in the mare’s capacity to maintain her performance over the 1800m distance.
“The 1800m at Rosehill is like a mile at Randwick,” he said. “So, especially being back at her home track it will work out perfectly for her.”
Considering Declichy Boulevard’s strong form, punters might find value in the racing betting markets at Australian betting sites.
