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Leading Australian racehorse trainer Chris Waller says he is incensed by the rumour and innuendo that he has been "poaching" horses from rival racing stables.
Waller, who is steadily building a Melbourne base, said he was tired of being accused of filling his vast Sydney stable with horses from other training establishments.
"I've had to put up with such nonsense talk for 10 years, but I sleep well at night as I know it's not true. But you get sick and tired of being perceived as a horseman intent on luring opposition horses," Waller said.
His aims for a Melbourne stable at Flemington have been thwarted to a degree, according to Waller, by people fuelling talk of his "unethical behaviour" in acquiring horses.
Waller, who has dominated Sydney's racing like no other horseman since the late Tommy Smith in the 1960s and `70s, said the general public would be "surprised" at the number of horses he refuses to train from outside stables.
"I won't embarrass the owners of some very, very good racehorses that I've said no to when they`ve been offered to my stable. And for that reason I'm keener to knock one back and then become more active at yearling sales around Australia in the coming months," he said.
"I want Melbourne to be a flourishing base but we're not in Melbourne to upset anyone. I'm sure even Peter Moody has had to go through this type of talk and it's not restricted to him.
"It's not trainers who make the moves, it's the owners. And I'm keen to establish a new client base in Melbourne. That's what we'll be working on in the future. But I must say that we"ll be a lot more active during the next six months at the sales.
"One thing I'll make clear is that if a horse has not got the suitable race for him in Sydney I'm not going to hang around and wait. I'll put him on a float to Melbourne [and] that's where he or she will finish a preparation," he said.
Waller said he didn't want the reliance of the Sydney stable having to feed the Melbourne stable. He said he wanted Melbourne to be a stand-alone business and that's why he wanted more Melbourne owners as clients.
On Saturday Waller planned to have three major chances at the Moonee Valley meeting, but Bascule - his runner in the Print Handicap - has recorded an elevated temperature leaving the stable no choice but to scratch her. His other two runners are Calming Influence and She's Clean.
