‘Close to perfection’: Nature Strip king of the world after Ascot blitz
By Chris Roots
There is an art to the way Chris Waller trains his really good ones, such as King’s Stand Stakes winner Nature Strip.
“With horses like a Winx and Nature Strip every run counts, and you only need to race them six or seven times a year, but they are expected to perform every time,” Waller said.
James McDonald punches the air as Nature Strip wins The King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.Credit:Getty
“You peak them and have them at their best each time and hope for perfection. That was pretty close to perfection [on Tuesday] and to be able to do it on the other side of the world is incredible.”
There is no bigger stage than Royal Ascot in racing and for the perfectionist in Waller, nothing was going to be out of place when he returned to race at the Queen’s track. He had experienced the pain of defeat with Brazen Beau in 2014 and had steeled himself to make a triumphant return.
So, it was not surprising that Nature Strip turned in a career performance to thump the best of British and American flyer Golden Pal.
“He has been airborne since he left home,” jockey James McDonald said. “Chris Waller and his team made sure everything was right and it was my job to finish it off.
“They have such a great hold of what Nature Strip needs to be at his best and that was what he was in the King’s Stand.
“Nothing was going to beat him, it is the genius of Chris Waller to bring a horse over here and get [it] in that sort of order.”
Nature Strip came to Waller after having several previous homes. He was an unfulfilled talent with the potential to go to the top.
Even when he won his first group 1, the Galaxy in 2019, a couple of months after joining Waller, the tearaway element to his make-up had many questioning if that run could be repeated.
But in the ensuing three years, Nature Strip has gone from being in a rush to a relaxed sprinter that harnesses his power and beats the best in the world.
The development has come under track work rider Stu Williams and McDonald. The latter has learned to go with him rather than fight him.
The Royal Ascot success was a ninth group 1 victory that also includes three TJ Smiths. Nature Strip also wears the Everest crown.
“He’s just learnt to be a racehorse now. He was a tricky horse early on ... he’s matured,” Waller said. “He just got him to be himself and relax. He is a horse that wants to be comfortable and when he is, he is very good.
“If that is his only run in England, it will be a legacy that is long remembered.”
A decision on running Nature Strip in Saturday’s Platinum Jubilee will be made later in the week by Waller and his team, but there is an Everest defence in October to consider.
If he runs in England again, it would be the first time has backed up inside a week.
Nature Strip’s relaxed demeanour before the King’s Stand, was a longway from the hard-charging, headstrong sprinter of three years ago. It allowed him to release his best once the barriers opened.
Like Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007) and Scenic Blast (2009), Nature Strip took control of the King’s Stand by the furlong pole. He then kept lengthening his margin. At the post, he had left the field more than four lengths in his wake. A riderless horse was the only company and concern.
“I couldn’t believe there was one with me, the way he quickened, nothing should have been with me,” McDonald said. “I didn’t know it had lost the rider.
“That was Nature Strip at his best. He loved the straight and the challenge of the incline at the finish and that brought out his best.”
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