Waller produced Kiwi-bred Zed mare Verry Elleegant to win the 2021 Melbourne Cup in the hands of New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame jockey James McDonald.
The Sydney-based trainer is looking to attack this year’s feature in numbers, with eight stayers among the remaining 40 in Cup contention.
"The Melbourne Cup is everyone’s dream," Waller said after watching most of his Cup contingent work at Flemington on Tuesday.
"It is the race that stops a nation; the world stops now. It’s every owner’s dream to run in the Melbourne Cup and win the Melbourne Cup."
A major talking point among Waller’s runners was Cox Plate runner-up Buckaroo.
Ninth in last year’s Melbourne Cup as one of the favourites following his Caulfield Cup second placing, Buckaroo was a "50-50" chance of running on Tuesday, Waller said.
"He’s passed his scans so that means he’s eligible to race in the Melbourne Cup should his owners desire. If not, he can run in the Champions Stakes over 2000m.
"He had a tough race last year and he didn’t come through it that well but there were reasons for that. He covered a lot of ground and came from a long way back and just peaked on his run.
"We’re fairly comfortable he can run the two-mile distance, but he’s a fairly important horse to us. He’s been with us for a long time so we’ve just got to make sure we get it right."
Waller said a decision on whether Buckaroo ran would not be made until tomorrow, in line with the decision-making timeline for Verry Elleegant when she won the race.
Waller’s remaining entries are group 3 Bart Cummings winner and Caulfield Cup-placed Valiant King, Caulfield Cup runner-up River Of Stars, More Felons, Birdman, Land Legend, Etna Rossa and Star Of India.
Waller described Valiant King as a "properly matured horse, in great form and racing full of confidence".
"Valiant King has come through the Caulfield Cup really well.
"On that occasion he drew closest to the outside barrier, so we opted to go back, ride for luck and make sure he finished off well and he did exactly that."
Waller was thrilled with River Of Stars’ second placing to Half Yours in the Caulfield Cup and her condition through that run.
"She’s had a similar preparation to Valiant King. Her run in the Caulfield Cup was tremendous. She came from well back as well and beat them all except one.
"The two-mile distance will help her. She’s had the right preparation and she’s really well."
Waller refused to rank his Cup contenders but expected More Felons to relish the step up in distance.
"More Felons will love the two-mile distance. They went too slow for him in the St Leger in Sydney but we’ve finally got him fit and up to his right distance so he’s a surprise package.
"Birdman is on the way up. He didn’t have a lot of luck in the Metropolitan through the draw and the Caulfield Cup draw wasn’t much better, but he still finished off well. Two miles is a query with him but he’s tracking along well and has prepared well for the race."
Waller has a strong hand on Derby day at Flemington but will head to Randwick tomorrow to watch a team headed by $A10million ($NZ11.4m) Golden Eagle favourite Autumn Glow. — Trackside.co.nz
