Waller: Buckaroo a “big” Melbourne Cup chance

Buckaroo’s trainer Chris Waller has confirmed that the 2024 Melbourne Cup favourite is a “big chance” of running in this year’s edition.

The gelding has had a fantastic preparation withoiut winning, running second in both the Cox Plate (2040m) and Underwood Stakes (1800m), and finishing third in the Memsie (1400m) and Might And Power (2000m).

Buckaroo ran ninth in last year’s Melbourne Cup (3200m), yet had numerous excuses.

Based off the 2024 run in Australia’s great race and how the seven-year-old pulled up from the Cox Plate second to Via Sistina, both majority owner Ozzie Kheir and Waller are confident in sending the Group 1 winner back to the Cup.

“He was very unlucky in the Cup last year,” Waller told SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.

“It’s tough when you don’t have things go your way in the Melbourne Cup because you only get one chance a year.

“I watched the replay of last year’s Melbourne Cup this morning and Ozzie Kheir watched it last night – we both spoke this morning and said he didn’t get much luck last year.

“'How is the horse?' Ozzie said, I said he’s pulled up fine, so he’s off to get scans today (for the Melbourne Cup).

“And we will just use the rest of the week to get comfortable with him running in the Melbourne Cup – I think there’s a big chance he could be there.

“He’s a good chance of getting there.

“We just need to make sure we’re not going beyond what he can’t do – he hasn’t run over 2400m this year, he’s sort of had a more Cox Plate prep – but knowing that he’s been to the distance of two miles, that’s a tick from me.”

Waller became the first trainer since 1961 to quinella the Cox Plate, achieving that historic feat with Via Sistina and Buckaroo who had a ding dong battle in the Moonee Valley straight.

Reflecting on the last ever Cox Plate at The Valley before the racecourse undergoes a redevelopment, the trainer admitted that he thought Matt Laurie’s Treasurethe Moment was going to clinch the $6 million race at the 250m mark.

“I’m absolutely on top of the world,” Waller said.

“That’s an awesome moment when you see two stable mates (quinella the race).

“I thought Treasurethe Moment was the winner at the 250m and then ours started to make that ground up and they got to Treasurethe Moment with 150m to go.

“To see them fighting the finish out, it’s a pretty surreal feeling when you’ve got two stablemates going for it.”

Much like Buckaroo, Waller hinted that Via Sistina’s spring may not be over just yet.

“She’s pulled up well,” the star trainer said.

“I’ll go back to Melbourne later today, have a good look at her and then make a decision from there.

“We did it last year and there was no problem.”

Last year Via Sistina won the Champions Stakes (2000m) on the final day of the Flemington Carnival after winning the Cox Plate.