Racing: Gai cherishes scoring 100th group one at home

Gai Waterhouse. Photo / Getty Images

Gai Waterhouse declared there's no other place like Randwick as she celebrated the 100th Group One victory of her training career when Herculian Prince romped home to win the A$400,000 ($522,500) Metropolitan Handicap yesterday.

In reaching the milestone 18 years after Te Akau Nick gave her a maiden Group One result in the 1992 Metropolitan, Waterhouse posted her century faster than any other trainer.

Because she reached the milestone on her home track, Waterhouse says it is a moment she will cherish forever despite her sometimes strained relationship with the Australian Jockey Club (AJC).

"I love the AJC and I love Randwick," she said. "I know I give the place a hard time but it's only because I love the place so much.

"It's the greatest place in the world to train and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

It was appropriate that Waterhouse produced a training performance for the ages because a week ago Herculian Prince couldn't beat a runner home as odds-on favourite in a lead-up race.

Herculian Prince ($4.80) ran away to beat the imported stayer Mourayan ($18) by 3 lengths in the famous spring distance test.

The veteran No Wine No Song ($5.50), who beat Herculian Prince home by more than eight lengths last week, finished a long head behind the second placegetter.

Waterhouse was reluctant to accept all the accolades for Herculian Prince winning the most important race of his career and restoring the order to his Caulfield and Melbourne Cup campaign.

"I owe a lot of thanks to my foreman Steve Dennett," she said. "If I hadn't listened to him I wouldn't be here."

Waterhouse employed the use of a tongue control bit to have the ex-New Zealander in form-reversal mode.

"He was a different horse this week," winning jockey Nash Rawiller said.

"Last week he wanted to fight me. He was tense and uptight and it is obvious now he couldn't breath properly and he was stressing."

- AAP