Two mares, six Cox Plates and $19 million: how the great weight-for-age race has defined the Chris Waller-era

The Cox Plate was once a race Chris Waller admired from a distance, but for the past 15 years, he has had a permanent presence on one of racing’s greatest stages, and six times he has been in the main spotlight.

There are two champion mares which define Waller’s success in the Cox Plate and which between them have taken a trainer who once wondered whether he belonged in the race to within one win of Tommy Smith’s record of seven.

The first of Waller’s 25 Cox Plate runners came in 2012 when Shoot Out finished a resolute fifth, devoid of luck and a turn-of-foot at a crucial stage as Ocean Park surged clear.

The result was eerily similar the second and third time around as Foreteller found traffic only to charge late in 2013 and 2014, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

At this time, Waller was establishing himself as the best trainer in the land, but he admitted to media this week that victory in Australia’s biggest races seemed a step too far for him and his horses.

Then Winx came along and changed all that in a moment. Well, four moments to be exact.

While there has not been another like her, Via Sistina emerged to create her own Cox Plate legend over the past two editions, defying difficult buildups to break records in 2024 and come back and prove herself the best in 2025.

At Flemington on Saturday, Aeliana and Birdman give him two chances to join the legendary TJ Smith with seven victories in the race, and in the process deny Smith’s daughter, Gai Waterhouse, her first success.

It would be fitting given Waller has defined the race over the past decade, with six of the past 11 wins.

Since 2010, his runners have earned approximately $19 million from the race, with $15 million coming from those six victories.

That is the financial measure. The sporting one is the distinction of preparing two mares to return and win again, with all the expectations that accompany them. Smith’s seven included Redcraze, Tulloch, Gunsynd and three with Kingston Town.

Both men know a thing or two about training under enormous public pressure.

In an interview with The Straight last year, Waller said the promoted Cox Plate clash with Hartnell in 2016 taught him and Hugh Bowman more about pressure and expectations.

“I feel the nerves, I feel the pressure, that constant pressure, it’s there,” he said. “I think it’s all part it, being a good coach or trainer, is putting yourself in that pressure and thriving on it.”

The external pressure is less acute, but internally Waller will be driven to deliver.

Aeliana was luckless in the race last year, finding a wall of horses when the contest was there to be won.

He and syndicator Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds have forged a wonderfully successful partnership since her switch from Tulloch Lodge in 2014.

When Aeliana won the Australian Derby by five lengths in the autumn of 2025, Waller urged patience with the prodigiously talented filly.

It was a luxury earned from his record of keeping mares at their peak much longer than expected. While she has contested nine Group 1 races since that Derby win, winning two and placing in four others, the focus has long been on the 2026 Cox Plate.

As a measure of that faith, James McDonald has been locked in as her rider since it became apparent that Autumn Glow would not race beyond the mile this spring. McDonald has won the past four Cox Plates.

Asked about her build-up this week, Waller simply said: “She’s ready to peak.”

Waller has a well-earned reputation for getting horses to their best on their grand final occasion.

Birdman, a Free Eagle gelding, won the Doomben Cup and then the Underwood Stakes before finishing third in the Might And Power. Ben Melham rides him from barrier one.

“Birdman is very fit,” Waller said. “His fitness was found out in the last 100 metres of his race last start, but he’s come through it well.”

He is the other model of a Waller star, imported from overseas with a toughness to show up every run and perform at his best.

The preparation is slightly different this year, given the race is at Flemington. Both horses worked on the Flemington course proper on Tuesday with their race riders aboard.

The venue changes, but Waller still has to manage the expectations that come with his record. Six wins have given him perspective, rather than an assumption that a seventh will follow.

“I’m not too bad, but I’ve been edgy before,” he said. “We’ve been to some pretty high highs, and once you’ve been there, it helps you get there and you also learn, don’t expect too much, don’t build yourself up too much and usually you come away happy.”