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Waller With Golden Opportunity To Capture BTC Cup

Photo: Getty Images

There are not many Group 1 races on the Australian racing calendar that have not been won by Chris Waller and he will have the opportunity to remove another race from that list at Doomben on Saturday when Counterattack, Delectation and Japonisme contest the BTC Cup.

Waller has dominated the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival in recent years, but he has had limited representation in the opening Group 1 race of the Carnival.

He had his first runner in the race when Magically finished ninth behind Bentley Biscuit and the great Takeover Target in the 2007 edition of the race before Shellscrape finished eighth behind Albert The Fat – who would go on to join the Waller stable – in 2010.

This will be easily the strongest hand that Waller has ever had in the BTC Cup and you can make an argument that all three of his runners on Saturday are right up there with the best chances.

Japonisme is on the second line of the 2016 BTC Cup betting market and he brings the strongest form lines into the race.

He was only narrowly denied by Chautauqua and Terravista in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at Flemington on February 20 and he was a very close third again in the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley on March 24 before he returned to winning form in the Arrowfield Sprint at Royal Randwick on April 9.

Waller has elected to give him a freshen-up following his Arrowfield Sprint victory, but he showed that he was ready for the BTC Cup when he scored a barrier trial victory over 1050 metres at Royal Randwick on May 6.

Counterattack was only narrowly denied by Japonisme in the Arrowfield Sprint and it is fair to say that he did not have a great deal of luck in running.

Everything has not gone to plan for Counterattack this preparation – he was ruled out of the Newmarket Handicap after throwing Glen Boss off his back just minutes before the race – but Waller has always had a big opinion of the son of Redoute’s Choice and it is fair to say that he has become a project horse for the stable.

Delectation rounds out the Waller trio in the BTC Cup and he could prove to be the x-factor in the BTC Cup field.

The inconsistent galloper has failed to fire during his autumn campaign to date, but just four starts ago he defeated the best sprinters in Australia including Chautauqua, Terravista and Buffering to take out the Darley Classic during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Delectation will go into the BTC Cup on the back of two barrier trial victories at Warwick Farm on April 29 and Royal Randwick on May 6 and is set to head to the Doomben 10,000 in a fortnight no matter how he performs this weekend.

The Waller trio will not have it their own way in the BTC Cup and they are set to face stiff competition from the likes of Victory Stakes winner Fell Swoop and the progressive Malaguerra, while Team Snowden-trained Charlie Boy will be back to defend his title.