'We'll have to get a top hat and tails' - Chris Waller plots Royal Ascot raid with Joliestar after Randwick Group 1 victory

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Chris Waller is planning a Royal Ascot raid with Joliestar after the top-class mare underlined her claims when landing her fourth Group 1 at Randwick on Saturday.

The five-year-old inched ever closer to an overseas foray when making it two wins from two this campaign in the Canterbury Stakes.

“She’s done it again. She’s now won Group 1s in three different states; that’s an incredible feat,’’ said Sir Brendan Lindsay, whose black and yellow silks were carried to victory at Royal Ascot by Hello Youmzain in the 2020 Diamond Jubilee Stakes. 

“She’s a bloody superstar. She won really well today. This year she’s just jumping a little handier. It makes a big difference when you can just be fourth or fifth, rather than getting back like last year, when she had no luck with barrier draws. It can make all the difference.

“She’s off to the TJ Smith Stakes next and then, all being well, Royal Ascot. We’re going to have to go and get a top hat and tails!’’

Ridden by James McDonald, the mare settled just off the pace and finished strongly to win by half a length and spearhead a Group 1 trifecta for Waller, with stablemates Beiwacht and Lady Shenandoah filling the placings in the $750,000 (£393,075) feature.

“It was a beautiful ride. She had a nice draw, so everything set up well. She’s come back really well, she’s a more mature horse. She knows her job and just does it well,” said Waller, who will be seeking his second win at the royal meeting after Nature Strip’s demolition of the King's Stand field in 2022.

Chris Waller: saddled Nature Strip to win the King's Stand in 2022Credit: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Waller has targeted the royal meeting three times: Brazen Beau was runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes in 2015 and Home Affairs finished unplaced in the same Group 1 after accompanying Nature Strip in 2022.

A $950,000 yearling purchase for Cambridge Stud’s Sir Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Joliestar has the impressive record of nine wins and seven places from 20 starts with prize-money topping AU$7.1million. 

Bred by Chris and Jane Barham, she is the best of six winners from the Group 1-placed Fastnet Rock mare Jolie Bay, herself a sister to Royal Ascot winner Merchant Navy.

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