An emotional Chris Waller scored his first group one win when talented three-year-old Triple Honour landed the $1,800,000 Group One Emirates Doncaster Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick.

The Rosehill based trainer has gone from strength to strength since moving from New Zealand a few years back and the deserved group one victory comes at an ideal time as Waller will soon become the new trainer for Bob Ingham after the sale of Woodlands Stud.

With Glen Boss in the saddle, Triple Honour settled about eighth in the run, just behind the leading brigade and well within striking distance. With a field of 20 runners contesting, the pair was always going to have difficulty getting a run in the straight but luckily for connections, Triple Honour was travelling well enough to take advantage of a slight gap between Hot Danish and Just Mambo at the 250m.

Once through the gap the pair sprinted quickly and put the race almost beyond doubt. However, just as the racecaller said ‘and the Doncaster’s over’, Casino Prince (Oliver) charged out of the pack. Oliver had to change course at the 180m and in the end it was probably the difference between winning and losing but luckily for Boss and Triple Honour the post arrived to quick and they  held on. Pinnacle with Shane Dye up had similar problems with traffic in the straight and probably should have finished closer for third.

The official margins were a half neck by one and three quarter lengths. The mile was run in 1.38.55 and they ran home the last 600m in 38.40. Triple Honour paid $8.40 with NSWTAB.

Waller still seemed surprised when he was approached by reporters.

“Thanks to all the support I’ve had, it’s unbelievable, it hasn’t sunk in yet obviously but it’s going to be a big night,” Waller said

“I don’t know what happened but I know we won.

“The staff at home have done a great job, not patching him up but just making sure he got here. He’s a horse that needs another three to six months but we’ve managed to get him here today and he has done the job.

“When you have a big stable it is hard to do on your own, I’ve had unbelievable support,” Waller said holding back tears.

An emotional Boss embraced his wife after returning to scale and was quick to deflect the praise to Waller.

“This should all be about Chris Waller really, I’ll go mad and be stupid, but honestly this should go back to Chris Waller, this will be the one that makes him I think as far as his career goes, Boss said.

“Obviously we know how much ability this bloke has got, but you need to win these big group ones and produce the horse on the right day looking as good and feeling as good as he did.

“I dismissed his last run, I went over it and over it again, and the more I looked at it the more I was convinced he was a good ride because it was just the wrong set of circumstances to ride him that way last start.

“History will always say, three-year-olds with light weights, with a good record at the mile here always run top four.

“To his credit there was no run between them (Hot Danish and Just Mambo), but once he put his head there it was all over.

“To win five, it is just incredible. There is no drug in the world that can replace that feeling that I get because the people come and they enjoy it, they watch Bossy go mad, but it’s from the heart,” Boss said with tears in his eyes.

The win was the third straight Doncaster Handicap victory for Glen Boss and his fourth in the last five years.

By Honours List out of the Nassipour mare Myrrh, Triple Honour is owned by P Ng, J Lee & K Li. The gelding has now won five from nine starts and a total of $1,388,260 in prizemoney.