Chris Waller superstar team ticked first public box by returning at the Randwick barrier trials on Thursday, but it wasn’t as positive for jocky Kerrin McEvoy, who broke a couple of toes in a barrier mishap.
The likes of Via Sistina, Autumn Glow, Lady Shenandoah and Aeliana weren’t at the sharp end of the trials as is the Waller way, but they did enough.
“I have been on them in the mornings, and they were all only having a look around really today,” said champion jockey James McDonald, who rides Autumn Glow, Lady Shenandoah and Via Sistina.
“It is the start of the preparations and we will see more in a couple of weeks.”
Via sistina after her trial @YulongInvest @cwallerracing @betsy_com_au pic.twitter.com/RItCOYYpwg
— Chris Roots (@ChrisRoots1) January 14, 2026
McEvoy rode Lazzura in the second trial and stood himself down after being jammed against the gate.
Lazzura completed the trial but McEVoy headed straight to hospital where
X-rays revealed he had broken his fourth and fifth metatarsal bones.
The injury could sideline McEvoy for up to a month.
The trials are used in different ways by different stables and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Shangri La Boy, the Spring Champion Stakes runner-up, won the opening heat from Michael Freedman’s Flight Stakes winner Apocalyptic and Just Feelin’ Lucky.
Freedman supplied the trifecta in the second heat as Enriched led home Manaal and Incognito, a two-year-old which impressed against the older horses.
Freedman quinella the next with a forward Pallaton putting a couple of lengths on Insurrection with John O’Shea and Tom Charlton’s promising three-year-old Napoleonic powering through the line third.
Wodeton followed by Autumn Glow after their trial @TomMagnier @CoolmoreAus @ArrowfieldStud @cwallerracing @Paulmessara @PaulTatnell pic.twitter.com/xDdzIEe6Ja
— Chris Roots (@ChrisRoots1) January 14, 2026
