Chris Waller has designed four separate programs to capture Saturday's Epsom, each with its own merits and each has worked before, but he leans towards Mackintosh, which has had the Winx preparation.
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The four-year-old is an $11 chance with Ladbrokes, but Waller has always thought he was miler. The son of Pins has followed the same program as Winx from last year, using the fitness from the Queensland carnival to win the Theo Marks Quality first-up after he failed to stay in the Queensland Derby.
"I think the mile is his best trip," Waller said. "We were hoping with him when we got him to the Queensland Derby. There was plenty of hope, but we knew he would be vulnerable in the Derby and he was.
"He got away with the Grand Prix and the Rough Habit over the 2000m, but he didn't stay, but the 1600m at Randwick always looked his trip.
"You take the Derby run out and he would have been an early favourite for the Epsom and would nearly be favourite now.
"I thought his first-up win was brilliant – he beat Southern Legend and Tycoon Tara, which won the Golden Pendant last week. They are both in-form horses and he gets to the race with a bit of improvement left."
So, Mackintosh, which has won six of his nine starts, arrives at the Epsom fresh and ready to fire with only 52kg, as Waller admits he is rebuilding his stable at the top level.
The premier trainer can draw on the past three Epsom winners – Boban, He's Your Man and Winx – to find different ways of getting to the spring Randwick mile.
McCreery, the winner of the Hawkesbury Cup and Kingston Town Stakes, is $6 for the Epsom after finding winning form at the right time, while Vanbrugh and Torgersen complete the Waller team at double-figure odds.
"We try to stick with what works and look back for help to set the right [programs] for the right horse," Waller said. "McCreery has followed the He's Your Man program [when he won the 2014 Epsom], Vanbrugh has stuck to the weight-for-age races as a group 1 winner and Torgersen has the Boban path, he just didn't win his way there like Boban did.
"McCreery wasn't going anywhere, but has found form just in time and comes into the race winning. He is a strong horse and will appreciate the drop back from 2000m to the mile."
The size of the Waller operation is amazing. He has 14 group 1 runners this weekend alone, but he is able to craft the right preparation for each horse.
He will saddle impressive filly Omei Sword, the Golden Rose runner-up, which is expected to go from potential star to group 1 winner in the Flight Stakes, where she is the $1.65 favourite.
"I just want to see her settle and I have enormous respect for Yankee Rose," Waller said. "She is like a lot of our horses at the moment, she has to do it at that level."
Waller has half a dozen out the 13 runners in the Metropolitan, including favourite Antonio Giuseppe at $5 and Sacred Master at $7, and sends Preferment to Melbourne to defend his title in Sunday's Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.
