Trainer keen to double strikeforce down south Keen to bolster his presence in Melbourne: Trainer Chris Waller. Just days after breaking one of Sydney racing's most difficult training records, Chris Waller is poised to reopen negotiations to secure a bigger base in Melbourne. At Rosehill on Saturday, Waller eclipsed the long-standing record tally of 156 city successes in a season, jointly held by Tommy Smith and his daughter Gai Waterhouse, and the expatriate New Zealander still has another seven metropolitan meetings to better his tally of 159½ winners. Waller is keen to bolster his presence in Melbourne, and over the next week will restart talks with the VRC at possibly doubling his stable from 10 to 20 boxes before the spring carnival. However, Waller's approach to having a significant Melbourne base is a measured one, knowing that few training outfits have made a Sydney-Melbourne operation a success. "My philosophy about stables in Melbourne is very much like my approach to horse training: taking very small steps and building it from the ground up," Waller said. Hence my advantage that I've gained some valuable insights on how their systems worked and how they managed to be so successful. Waller, like Waterhouse and Smith, showed that he, too, can handle the daunting prospect of a huge team of racehorses and still be highly successful. "I've got 117 horses in full work here in Sydney and what I'm trying to do is get 10 more boxes at Flemington, so I'll have a total of 20 stables come the spring," he said. Waller said he had no plans to appoint stable jockeys in either state and was would stand by his philosophy of booking the very best riders wherever possible. "When I started in Sydney, Larry Cassidy was the leading jockey and every time I had a runner I would aim to get him but that was probably one in four occasions, but it was worth it," he said. Owners appreciate and listen to the very best jockeys and having them on your side means that your major opposition is overcome.