Hawk Island and Waller do it again

By Mathew Toogood

SYDNEY, July 31 AAP - Another 2000-metre race in Sydney and it was another win by the Chris Waller stable at Rosehill on Saturday with Hawk Island.

It's been one of the stories of the Sydney season with Waller dominating races at 2000m and beyond in a season in which he finished second in the premiership with more than 90 city wins.

"We're starting to cover all bases now, but stayers have been the backbone of our stable," Waller said.

Hawk Island defied a big rise in weight to outgun stablemate African Prince to win the Daily Press Handicap.

It was Hawk Island's fourth win over 2000m on a heavy track this season.

Glyn Schofield has been riding in great form and Waller said the jockey seemed to suit his horses after he steered Hawk Island to his 1-1/4-length win, with Halfametreshort another 4-1/2 lengths away in third.

"About 90 per cent of my horses are the same, and it's similar to the way we work them of a morning," Waller said.

"We have them going quiet early and then dash up the last 200 metres of their work.

"I think you need a certain rider to have the horses travelling and not going under pressure early and that suits our horses.

"I'm adamant certain jockeys suit certain training styles and Glyn seems to suit ours."

Hawk Island was backing up on Saturday after winning on a heavy track over the same distance at Randwick a week earlier.

The imported gelding rose from winning with 54kg last week to carry 58kg on Saturday, but it didn't affect the outcome as Schofield had him settled back in the small field before getting him into the clear from the top of the straight.

African Prince challenged his stablemate with an inside run but class prevailed in the end as Hawk Island drew away in the final 50m.

"It was a very good win because he had it all to do today," Schofield said.

"He has had a couple of wins where he was thrown in at the weights but I said to the connections today that this was his test because he was giving the rest of his rivals 4-1/2 kilos or more."