By Brad Gray
Star three-year-olds Omei Sword and Comin’ Through kick off their autumn preparations for Chris Waller at Randwick on Saturday in the Eskimo Prince Stakes (1200m).
The boom youngsters will both be first-up in the Group Three race sponsored by the Australian Chinese Jockey Club, with Omei Sword the sole filly in the field.
“It’s just a starting point but the beauty of what the first part of the autumn has to offer is that you get a few horses from all angles starting off their preparation,” Waller said.
Omei Sword missed a large part of the spring with a respiratory infection having last been seen in the Group One Golden Rose when second to Astern.
Omei Sword's Golden Rose run
“We thought she was going to have a pretty big autumn and taking on older mares so we decided not to push too far when she had a minor setback.”
“She has come back well and is a strong, mature horse now. (She’s) had that experience against the boys and proved that she can be up against the depth of those colts.”
Meanwhile, Waller is hopeful that Comin’ Through will emulate his half-brother Criterion and continue to develop as he gets older.
"This horse physically looks like he's only got improvement in him," Waller said.
“He was a pretty immature three-year-old in the spring and we were fortunate enough to get some good wins out of him.
“He’s come back stronger.”
As for Comin’ Through’s chances on Saturday, Waller stated that he’s a horse that would be “performing better at 1500m to a mile.”
Check out the fields and form at Randwick, Day 1 of the Chinese Festival of Racing