Chris Waller.

Chris Waller. Photo: Jenny Evans



Having set a Sydney trainers' premiership record, Chris Waller will now negotiate for a bigger base in Melbourne.


On Saturday, Waller eclipsed the long-standing record of 156½ winners achieved by the late Tommy Smith and his daughter Gai Waterhouse when he trained four winners to take his season tally to 160, and the former New Zealander still has another seven metropolitan meetings to go.


But he is keen to increase his presence in Melbourne and, in the next week, will have talks with the VRC about doubling his stables from 10 to 20 before the spring carnival.


''My philosophy about stables in Melbourne is very much like my approach to horse training - taking very small steps and building it from the ground up,'' Waller said on Sunday.


''I have a great fear of failure, that's why we've done things slowly and kept an open mind about what we were doing.


''I'm fortunate because I'm training for the Ingham family and they had great success with Crown Lodge, which operated successfully out of both states.


''[So] I've gained some valuable insights on how their systems worked and how they managed to be so successful.


''I have 117 horses in full work here in Sydney and what I'm trying to do is get 10 more boxes at Flemington so I'll have a total of 20 stables come the spring.


''What we'll manage to do is that I'll send 20 very fit racehorses, all ready to start once they get off the float in Melbourne. That's the equivalent of having 60 racehorses in the one stable because the ones I bring in will be ready to race, so getting them fit won't be the problem.''


Waller said he had no plans to appoint stable jockeys in either state and would stand by his philosophy of booking the very best wherever possible.


''When I started in Sydney, Larry Cassidy was the leading jockey and every time I had a runner I would aim to get him. That was probably one in four occasions, but it was worth it,'' he said.


''Owners appreciate and listen to the very best jockeys and, really, having them on your side means that your major opposition is overcome.


''I think I adopted the same policy when Darren Beadman was at his peak and I got him probably one in six, but I thought it was worth the trouble.


''That philosophy will be the same in Melbourne. I'll use the best and I can't see any reason to change the way we do business.''