If Chris Waller’s reign as Sydney’s champion trainer is to be threatened, a subtle statistic to emerge from the 2023/24 premiership race could provide insight into an obvious challenger.
Waller is celebrating his 14th consecutive Sydney metropolitan title, training 148 winners - almost 60 more than the Tulloch Lodge partnership of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
Waterhouse and Bott, courtesy of an impressive strike rate with their team of two-year-olds, were within striking distance of Waller heading towards the second half of the season.
Ultimately, Waller’s mega stable swung into top gear and it was business as usual for the trainer who won his first premiership in 2010/11.
Incredibly, Waller is still not halfway towards matching Tommy Smith’s 33 consecutive Sydney premierships.
Waller has no peer on the score of sustained excellence in the modern era and there is no doubt he has the resources to keep powering towards Smith’s record.
But what motivates him now might not be what drives him on in a decade.
The rise of Ciaron Maher as an influential trainer is already providing Waller with competition on a national level with 343 winners across the country.
Maher claimed his second successive Australian and Melbourne metropolitan titles in 2023/24 (his first was in partnership with David Eustace) with and he went head-to-head with Waller on the overall prize money table.
Waller finished the season with almost $51.7 million to Maher’s $51.5 million, reflecting just how much the two trainers dominate Australian racing.
But a new season could bring a new frontier for Maher - right in the middle Waller’s backyard.
Maher is expanding his NSW presence despite recently announcing that he has reduced the size of his Warwick Farm team from 70 to 30 horses.
In the 2022/23 season, Maher sent out 284 city runners in Sydney for 43 winners.
That volume of starters increased to 467 last season and with 62 winners, Maher finished third on the premiership table.
With his Bong Bong Farm and Bobs Farm operations in full swing and the relative ease of shipping horses between states these days, it will be no surprise if Maher can close the gap further on Waller this season.
Maher trained 107 winners on metropolitan tracks in Melbourne in 2023/24 to claim another premiership that was momentarily threatened because of red tape.
When Maher dissolved his training partnership with Eustace in January, Racing Victoria (RV) created a controversy.
RV decided the wins the partnership collected together wouldn’t be carried over when Maher continued training in his own name.
Common sense prevailed and the wins under the Ciaron Maher Racing banner were retained.
Warwick Barr
Maher safely secured another title by shrugging off a challenge from the Hayes brothers’ Lindsay Park operation.
Waller led the way for Group 1 victories during the season with 12 at the highest level.
The three-year-old stayer Riff Rocket was his most prolific Group 1 winner - saluting three times with victories in the Victoria Derby, Rosehill Guineas and ATC Australian Derby.
Maher trained six Group 1 winners, led by the ageless sprinting mare Bella Nipotina who collected the Doomben 10,000 and Tattersalls Tiara during the Brisbane winter carnival.
But it was another Maher-trained mare who perhaps provided a standout racing highlight.
If she wasn’t already there, Pride Of Jenni elevated herself into the top bracket of Australian racehorses with a Queen Elizabeth Stakes win during the Sydney autumn carnival that will be remembered as one of the great moments in weight-for-age racing.
Splitting Waller and Maher to finish second on Group 1 trainers list was Godolphin trainer James Cummings.
Cummings prepared seven Group 1 winners, a tally helped with a late-season surge courtesy of retired stable star Cascadian (Australian Cup) and exciting newcomer Broadsiding (ATC Champagne Stakes and JJ Atkins).
He will enter the 2024/25 season on the cusp of a milestone as he closes in on 50 Group 1 successes.
In other metropolitan premierships around Australia, Adelaide provided the setting for the closest finish.
Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea snatched the title during the final meeting of the season with a double to beat Richard and Chantelle Jolly.
Tony Gollan (147.5 wins) won the Brisbane title, while Grant and Alana Williams' stable rebuild was rewarded with a Perth title after they finished 11 wins ahead of Neville Parnham.
Jesse Dart
John Blacker trained the most winners in Tasmania with 68, surging clear late in the season.
On the jockeys’ front, Perth-based William Pike overcame a mid-season injury that kept him out of the saddle for two months to land the national premiership with 175.5 winners as well as the city title in Western Australia with 107.5. It was his seventh national title.
But for earnings power, it was impossible to deny Sydney-based James McDonald.
McDonald’s mounts banked almost $35.4 million in Australia as he collected a sixth consecutive Sydney premiership to finish with 90 winners for the season.
His 2023/2024 title puts McDonald in illustrious company, joining Ron Quinton (1978/89-1983/84) and George Moore (1961/62-1968/69) for title sequences.
McDonald also rode the most Group 1 winners for the season in a haul of 14 that included the Cox Plate on Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior.
Bren O’Brien
In the Melbourne metropolitan riders’ title, Damian Lane led the way with 88 winners from Blake Shinn on 75.
James Orman rode 107.5 winners to claim the Brisbane crown.
Jake Toeroek won in Adelaide with 47 winners while Anthony Darmanin (57 wins) defeated Craig Newitt in Tasmania.
