18.08.2008, TRIPLE HONOUR, WHO NEARLY DEFEATED WEEKEND HUSSLER AT LEVEL WEIGHTS, CONFRONTS A CAREER-SHAPING TEST AT ROSEHILL TOMORROW

Trainer Chris Waller is keen to see how Triple Honour measures up at weight-for-age for the first time in the Group Two $150,000 Smithfield RSL Premiere Stakes (1200m).

Triple Honour has only four opponents but what the race lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality.

There are three individual Group One winners – Triple Honour, Mentality and Reigning To Win.

The other two starters, Captain Bax (Missile Stakes) and Hurried Choice (Challenge Stakes), have won feature sprints at weight-for-age this year.

“It will be good to see if Triple Honour is up to weight-for-age company,” Waller said yesterday.

“There are some good races for him in Sydney during the spring leading up to the George Main Stakes (Randwick, September 28) if he handles this sort of racing.”

Triple Honour demonstrated during the autumn he has the necessary class and ability to be a weight- for-age force this season.

He gave Waller his first Group One win in the Doncaster Handicap, that triumph coming soon after he ran Weekend Hussler to the closest of photo finishes in the Randwick Guineas.

Weekend Hussler is considered by most experts to be the new superstar of Australian racing and is already a dominant $4.50 favourite with TAB fixed-odds for the $3 million Cox Plate later this year.

By contrast, Triple Honour is almost the forgotten horse in Cox Plate betting at $26.

“I’m not thinking about the Cox Plate yet – it’s a race at a time for now,” Waller said.

“Our initial targets are the George Main Stakes and Epsom Handicap.”

Triple Honour hasn’t raced since the Doncaster but Waller revealed racegoers tomorrow can expect to see a new, improved version of the elite galloper that raced so well as an autumn three-year-old.

“He’s a bit stronger and heavier now,” Waller said.

“He’s come back really well and is just where I want him to be at the start of a preparation.”

Triple Honour is the early TAB fixed-odds Premiere favourite at $2.60 ahead of Reigning To Win and Mentality at $3.50.

Waller gave Triple Honour an easy barrier trial in preparation for tomorrow’s race where the gelding is striving to protect a perfect first-up record (three wins from three attempts).

Jockey Glen Boss produced one of the best big-race rides of last season to win the Doncaster on Triple Honour in April and not surprisingly has retained the mount in his return to Sydney Saturday racing.

Waller is also helping another elite jockey to reignite his career by booking Shane Dye to ride the consistent Humma in the Mounties Group Handicap (1500m).

Dye hasn’t ridden since May when he suffered a rib cartilage injury.

“Shane has been off the season for a while but it would be great for Sydney racing to see him back among the winners,” Waller said.

“I’m hoping Humma can run well. Unfortunately he has drawn wide, which means we will probably have to go back early, but Shane rides those sort of races very well.”

11.08.2008, EAGLE FINALLY LANDED

PROMISING stayer Enzedex Eagle had to survive a pre-race scare and an alarming betting drift to post a dominant win in the Te Akau Nick Welter (2400m) at Rosehill Gardens yesterday.

Enzedex Eagle had become fractious in his stall and slipped over, prompting stewards to order that the gelding undergo a veterinarian examination before being allowed to start.

Stewards made punters aware of the Enzedex Eagle incident, which my have contributed to the Chris Waller-trained stayer blowing like a gale in betting.

Enzedex Eagle opened at $2.20 but eventually drifted to $3.80 after the announcement of his fractious stall behaviour, as punters rallied for some of his rivals, most notably Kettledrum, who was backed into $2.70 favouritism.

But none of this mattered to Enzedex Eagle, who unleashed an impressive burst of acceleration in the straight to win by almost three lengths from Kettledrum, with Juerga ($9) a long neck away third.

Waller has done an excellent job managing Enzedex Eagle through a long winter campaign with the gelding developing into one of Sydney’s most consistent horses.

After Enzedex Eagle recorded his fourth win from his past five starts, Waller said he is hoping the stayer could develop into a Group1 contender this season.

“I don’t know how much longer we can keep him going this campaign because he’s been up a long time and had a lot of racing,’’ Waller said. “But he’s raced his way through the grades pretty comfortably and he’s obviously a horse with a lot of potential.

“I’m hoping he may be a Sydney Cup contender next autumn.’’ Waller did confirm Enzedex Eagle will remain in training for the Listed $150,000 Wyong Cup (2100m) on September 5. “He’ll have to go back in distance, which is not ideal,’’ the trainer said.

“I doubt I’ll run him again before the Wyong Cup even though that race is about a month away. I might give him a nice easy barrier trial instead. If he happened to win the Wyong Cup by three or four lengths then maybe we’d have to have a good think about The Metropolitan (at Randwick on October 4). But I doubt we’ll keep him going for another two months.’’