Bob Ingham and his late brother Jack built up the most formidable breeding and racing home-grown empire Australia has seen in modern times off the back of their Ingham’s chicken business and their love of the thoroughbred.

Just under a month ago it was announced that the world-wide Darley operations of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum would be taking over the entire Woodlands Stud operation. All the Ingham’s were retaining were their famed all cerise racing silk colours.

This left Ingham to decide on a new trainer for the new horses he is intending to purchase at the forth-coming Easter Yearling Sale at Newmarket, Sydney, after decades of having John Hawkes train out of the Woodlands Stud owned Crown Lodge at Warwick Farm, with stables at Flemington as well, and latterly, since November, 2007, with Peter Snowden at the helm.

Two weeks ago Chris Waller had an inkling that a major owner was making enquiries about him, and then his phone beeped with the message of, literally, ‘Please call Bob Ingham’ and leaving the phone number.

“It was just unbelievable, my dreams have arrived,” said Waller.

So why did Bob Ingham, with the pick of every trainer he wanted in Australia chose this emerging trainer at Rosehill.

Waller, 34, came to Rosehill from New Zealand seven years ago with little except a typical through New Zealand horse back-ground and a few horses on which to hang his shingle out from the stables.

“New Zealand was the best foundation I could have ever had, and that is all I had when I came to Australia,” says Waller.

It was a hard grind like all young trainers with no capital except their hard work. There is no glamour buying of yearlings at sales, just working with what came through the door, and placing the horses in races that hopefully they could make an impression in.

Waller’s first winner in Australia was Party Belle on Wyong Cup Day in a maiden over 2100m, and fellow New Zealander Opie Bosson was the rider.

Since then Waller has quietly built a reputation of placing his horses well, getting them fit and ready, and the winners came, so much so that last season he was fifth on the Sydney metropolitan trainers championship table.

He occupies the same position to-date this shortened season with equine influenza, behind Gai Waterhouse, David Payne, Peter Snowden and the Cups Master Bart Cummings. Hallowed company indeed.

Last year Waller experienced his greatest thrill when he trained four winners in one Saturday programme on his home track Rosehill. He has yet to train a Group I winner, with Triple Honour’s nose second to the current rated best-three-year-old in the world Weekend Hussler in the Group I Royal Randwick Guineas on March 29th desperately close.

Waller brings with him at all time a modesty that has caught the eye of his colleagues in the industry. Sydney’s champion jockey Darren Beadman, now riding in Hong Kong, saw the potential very early.

“His first couple of rides must have been quite good for him as there was an instant association and therefore I used to ring him every time the nominations would come out and he would take one ride in ten,” said Waller.

“That was a bonus to have him and later on, prior to him going to Hong Kong, I was fortunate enough that whenever he did not have a ride for Crown Lodge I could get him so he has been a huge help to my career,” he said.

Waller underscores the importance of his part in that relationship, as Beadman would not have bothered with riding for the young trainer if the horses had not been presented in the condition for Beadman to ride them to advantage.

Then others in the industry, fellow trainers such as Peter Snowden and Tony Wildman, picked up on Waller’s progress and watched quietly from the sidelines. With the unexpected turn of Woodlands Stud changing hands those observations, and that of Beadman, were to become a vital part in that phone call to Waller.

Waller says that outside racing he ‘tries to relax’, but every Sunday he and wife Stephanie, 32, have lunch at Sydney Woolloomooloo Wharf.

“I love going to lunch every Sunday down at Woolloomooloo, and we are there almost every Sunday as it is a good time for us to catch up, and we take some friends like my foreman Paul Shailer, or Nash Rawiller, or Blake Shinn, just whoever is in contract with us at the time” says Waller.

The next goal is to win that elusive Group I victory says Waller of his current 50 strong stable where he is supported by ex-pat New Zealander’s Shailer, and Annalese Trollope and Emily Holmes along with some 15 other staff.

Waller had applied to the Sydney Turf Club for a further 30 boxes before the Ingham call up, and now they will be filled by blue-blood yearlings selected by Ingham, and to wear the all cerise later in their careers.