The Aussie Horse Nature Strip has left a world-class arena at the Royal Ascot, heading for victory to officially declare the sprinters king.
Coach Chris Waller was able to finish at four-and-a-half lengths to win the Kings Stand Stakes at the royal meeting of the Everest winner Britain.
The eight-time Australian Group 1 winner, who started out as a 9-4 second-favorite, ate the more fancy American Dual Breeders Cup winner, the Golden Pal, the only competition to come up with a loose horse servant who stuck his jockey after a stall problem.
Read more: Serena announced the decision of the huge Wimbledon
Read more: The ‘madness’ that drives the Tigers’ decades of suffering
Read more: Why ‘basketball’ problem ‘shocked’ Ricardo
Sydney jockey James MacDonald has declared, “He’s a complete madman on horseback.”
“That horse scared me.
“I saw the American horse charging on the very and two (furlong) poles, and I thought, ‘Are you going to come?’, And he had no reaction, and the nature strip was gone.”
It was Waller’s seventh win in the world-famous event and Waller’s first since being runner-up in the Diamond Jubilee Steak with Brazen Beau in 2015.
“It was breathtaking,” Waller said.
“It means a lot. We don’t get a chance to fight English, Irish, French and American horses, so to be able to bring a horse like this and the way he did it, was very nice. Special
“He’s been a very good horse for a long time. He’s in the twilight of his career but he’s learned to be a race horse.
Waller, the coach of the legendary horse Winx, said he was “delighted” to have won 10 years after winning the great Black Caviar at Royal Ascot.
“It’s very important to show them (Australia’s best horse) internationally,” said Waller, who paid well after stopping in Singapore and Dubai after bringing his charge on a 40-hour flight from Australia.
“Of course, Australia has a huge racing industry, the breeding industry. Ratings Stack Up – The Nature Strip is one of the highest rated horses in the world but until you get it on the main stage it’s another story. It will remind everyone how strong we are in Australia.”
Waller says he has not yet decided whether to give Nature Strip a chance to double down on the Platinum Jubilee Stakes, the first since Choisier, Australia’s first Royal Ascot winner, in 2003.
To get a daily dose of the best breaking news and exclusive content from the Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter Click here!
