If anyone knows what a champion racehorse looks like it is the esteemed trainer Chris Waller and he had no doubts he saw one last Saturday evening at Ellerslie in New Zealand.
Waller, who has trained an extraordinary eight of the past 10 Australian champion racehorse titles with the likes of Winx, Nature Strip and Verry Elleegant, got his first close-up look at Well Written as she trampled her rivals in the Karaka Millions (3YO) and he later left no doubt as to his opinion of the unbeaten Written Tycoon filly.
Speaking from the Karaka Yearling Sales a day following Well Written’s blitz, Waller said the performance elevated her into the elite.
“She (Well Written) will compete at the top level and be very hard to beat,” Waller predicted. I would say she could even be at the top.
“It was brilliant,” he told New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing. “We’ve been watching her for a while. Obviously when we have a lot of good horses in Australia we’re looking to see where the next competitor’s coming from, and we see it in her.”
Well Written made it five wins from five starts on Saturday but it is unlikely she will race in Australia before next season. Her next run is in the NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie on March 7.
Waller said he will be watching The Kiwi closely in March to gain more information on the horse that threatens to dominate at weight-for-age next season. He said the emergence could set-up a great rivalry or two with rising stars of his team.
“I guess she’ll come across to Australia at some stage and we’ve got horses like Autumn Glow who is also unbeaten, so that’s two horses that could be matching up at some stage.”
He says the continued rise of Well Written was important for the New Zealand racing.
“You see what Ka Ying Rising’s doing – he’s rated the best racehorse in the world at the moment as a sprinter,” he said. “He’s come from New Zealand, but he’s not racing there.
“It’s hard for New Zealand to keep the horses because of the big prices that the rest of the world pays but when you’ve got a pin-up horse like that, it just changes the whole industry and everybody runs off it.”
Trainer Peter Moody has five times prepared Australia’s champion racehorse for the season and he too sees a real challenger in Well Written for 2026/27.
“She looked terrific,” he said. “It was super how she put them to the sword the last 200 metres.
“I’ve got probably a couple of the better three-year-old fillies in Australia (Sheza Alibi and Ole Dancer) so I’m happy to hear she’s staying here for your slot race in March and I won’t have to do battle with her in the Australian Guineas in about a month’s time.”