Chris Waller: Halberg Coach of the Year 2018. Should be. Won't be.
The Kiwi trainer of Winx yesterday achieved a feat unprecedented in thoroughbred racing history, when the wonder mare won her fourth-straight Cox Plate.
I know what you're thinking. "He's not a coach, he doesn't do anything. He trains a horse and the horse does it all."
Wrong. According to the dictionary, the definition of "coach" is: "a person who teaches and TRAINS an athlete or performer." Chris Waller does exactly that with his horses (whether you want to call them athletes or performers is up to you).
I would even argue training an animal is considerably harder than coaching humans for one obvious reason - they can't talk. He has to read his horses, he has to figure out the best formula week-in, week-out to get them to peak on race days. He's up between 3am-4am and doesn't sleep again until close to 10pm. He's constantly working.
Chris Waller left New Zealand in 2000 with two maxed out credit cards and a couple of horses. He's now regarded as Australasia's best trainer, winning the New South Wales Trainer's Premiership eight times, an incredible achievement. This year he won the 2017/18 NSW Premiership again with a record 189 metropolitan victories for the season - 13 of which were Group Ones (six with Winx).
He's now training one of, if not the, best horse the Southern Hemisphere has ever seen in Winx. She's on a world-record 29-race winning streak - 22 of which are Group Ones. For the past two years she's been the world's top ranked turf horse. In 2018 alone she's won seven Group One races, including the historic Cox Plate.
The Halberg criteria the Voting Academy follows for every award reads as such:
1. Regarding the achievement was it in that sport's 'pinnacle event' (eg Olympics, Paralympics, Football World Cup).
2. Regarding the achievement was it a world record, or world ranking or recognition (eg 'World Player of the Year')
3. The quality of the field/competition
4. The global nature of the sport
Chris Waller's achievements this year cover all of those.
Of course, there are strong arguments for the usual contenders to win the Halberg Coach of the Year - Gordon Walker (kayaking) and Steve Hansen (All Blacks) and others who have taken their teams to lofty heights - Glenn Moore (Black Ferns), Allan Bunting (Black Ferns Sevens) and Clark Laidlaw (All Blacks Sevens).
But in a recent interview, even Steve Hansen conceded Chris Waller absolutely deserves to be considered for Coach of the Year.
In my opinion, he should win it. Hands down.
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