I first started coming to Royal Ascot in the mid-1970s. I was working in the theatre and had aspirations to be an actress in the West End. I spent a lot of my spare time with the Baldings at Park House stables, Kingsclere, riding out and watching Ian train his string of horses on their magnificent property. I went racing regularly.
I first started coming to Royal Ascot in the mid-1970s. I was working in the theatre and had aspirations to be an actress in the West End. I spent a lot of my spare time with the Baldings at Park House stables, Kingsclere, riding out and watching Ian train his string of horses on their magnificent property. I went racing regularly.
My first encounter with an Ascot gateman occurred not long after a sojourn in Paris, where I had had my hair done in the latest fashion - flowers in my hair. I thought it looked pretty good. But the man on the gate to the Royal Enclosure thought otherwise.
'You can't come in here like that,' he told me in no uncertain terms. 'You don't have a hat.'
'But this is the very latest fashion in Paris,' I protested.
I could see I was making no progress, so I ducked into the nearest loo and stuck a ribbon through my hair, rearranged it a little, then went back to my 'inspector.'
'That's perfect,' he declared, and waved me through. You learn from your experiences in life.
I believe it is very important for me to attend Royal Ascot every year. It is a chance to see high-quality horses, many of whom will later be coming to Australia as shuttle stallions. You are constantly meeting people from all over the world, and it is a great chance for networking.
Ascot have done a fantastic job in making this a bona fide international meeting that cannot be missed.
This year, I have brought a horse to England, who is arguably the best three-year-old in Australia, a smart colt named Wandjina. He won the Australian Guineas at Flemington in March, and then finished a head second to Dissident, a four-year-old, in the All-Aged Stakes at Randwick in April.
Wandjina is a very happy horse at present, here in Newmarket. He was a bit quiet for a couple of days after arrival, but every day he has picked up.
In 2007, I brought Bentley Biscuit over for the King's Stand and the July Cup, but he was well beaten in both. He had previously suffered a haematoma in Queensland (after beating Takeover Target) and although he was all right alright to travel over, he had missed some work. I learned from that; you cannot have an interruption to training if you are going to be competitive.
Wandjina will be competitive in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (6f, Sat 20 June), in my opinion. He is a terrific specimen of a horse; he has an intelligent head, good bone, plenty of length of body. His jockey, Damien Oliver, is a sharp rider, who has ridden at Ascot before.
I think the Aussies will have a good meeting. We will make our presence felt, that's for sure.
On the Monday night, we are off to the Goffs sale in London. Last year, we came away with two horses, Café Society, who ran third for us in the Wolferton but unfortunately got injured later in the year (he comes back at Rosehill on Saturday), and Pornichet, who won us the Doomben Cup.
My husband Rob is studying the catalogue to try to find another as good this year. Time will tell.
Gai Waterhouse is a training phenomenon in Australia. When sending out Fiorente to win the 2013 Melbourne Cup, she completed the 'grand slam' of her country's major races and cemented her place as one of the greats Down Under. She has trained 133 Group One winners to rank third on the all-time list, behind her father Tommy Smith and Bart Cummings.
