BOOKIES TIPPING WALLER TO CONTINUE WYONG CUP DOMINATION

MARKET assessors are tipping a 10th Chris Waller victory in Friday’s Big Dance Eligibility Wyong Leagues Group Wyong Cup.

Sydney’s champion trainer has won the $250,000 2100m Listed feature a remarkable nine times, and has three entries – and two of them are amongst the “Top 3” in early betting.

Whilst entries were extended until 11am tomorrow after 13 nominations were received, TAB.com.au posted Waller’s Matusalem as the early $3.50 favorite, ahead of Ciaron Maher’s Eliyass ($4.50) and Matusalem’s stablemate Elliptical ($6).

Waller’s other entry Valiant King is currently an $11 chance.

Waller began his winning Wyong Cup run with Hawk Island in 2010, and subsequently won the race with The Verminator (2011), Wazn (2013), Multilateral (2014), Beyond Thankful (2015), Carzoff (2018), Wu Gok (2019), Durston (2022) and Saltcoats last year.

James McDonald has been his most successful rider, scoring on four of them; Multilateral, Wu Gok, Durston and Saltcoats.

The ill-fated Durston won the Group 3 Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m) and Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) the same year after his Wyong success.

Ciaron Maher has two entries (Eliyass and Amplify, $15), and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott the same (Bella Montagna, $8 and $6 co-third favorite The Euphrates).

The latter is an interesting entry as the Frankel six-year-old import has not started since October 2024 when runner-up to stablemate and dual Royal Ascot Gold Cup winner Kyprios in the Long Distance Cup (3118m) at Ascot in the UK.

He has trialled twice recently at Royal Randwick in preparation for a resumption.

Of the 13 current entries, Amplify and Taree-trained Steel Blaze also have been nominated for Saturday’s Listed City Tatts Club Cup (2400m) at Randwick.

Provincial trainers have two of the nominations. Newcastle’s Kris Lees entered this year’s Auckland Cup placegetter Age Of Sail, and Wyong’s Nacim Dilmi, who was runner-up to Waller’s Saltcoats last year with Salt Lake City, entered Charleroi, who also is in the 1350m Benchmark 64 Handicap and 5YO & Up 1600m Benchmark 64 Handicap.

Wyong Race Club received 17 entries for the $250,000 Listed Domeland Mona Lisa Stakes (1350m) for fillies and mares.

Seven-times winning Sydney mare Oh Diamond Lil, who captured last year’s Group 3 Tibbie Stakes (1400m) at Newcastle, is the early $4.50 favorite, ahead of the Waller pair Cigar Flick and Panova (each $6).

There are four provincial entries in the Mona Lisa. Wyong’s Tracey Bartley and John Cooper have Titanium Miss and Listins Lass respectively, Hawkesbury’s Michael Vella has Cosmeena, and Newcastle’s Mark Minervini has Smiling Prophet.

The latter’s win at yesterday’s Ladies Day fixture at Wyong was her third at the track.

Nacim Dilmi ventured to Taree today and scored with Great Idea (Christian Reith) at $5.50 in the Class 3 Handicap (1400m), and Newcastle’s Barry Lawrence, who has only two horses in racing trim, made it three wins in just over a week when Take The Jackpot ($12), ridden by Mikayla Weir, edged out Hawkesbury trainer Mar Chevalier’s Yes Yes Boss ($5.50) in the Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m).

Great Idea, a seven-year-old So You Think gelding, was having his first start for Dilmi and made it four wins from only nine starts.

Lawrence scored with Take The Jackpot at Port Macquarie last Saturday week and then Love You Anyway at Tuncurry two days later.

He bought the now eight-year-old Take The Jackpot for only $700, and has won five races with him, including two at Taree, and nearly $113,000 in prizemoney. STORY BY JOHN CURTIS, AUGUST 31, 2026. PIC BRADLEY PHOTOS