And that boost came from right here on the South Coast.

Waller sent his runner Asterius to Cheryl Roberts at Berry's Boyndon Park in July, where the five-year-old gelding was given a spell before going into pre-training. His workload included taking on the property's gruelling hill track which features a 50-metre incline.

The track is hard work - for everybody.

"We refer to it as the Newmarket [UK] track of Australia," Roberts said.

"It certainly involves heavy lung capacity work for going up a hill while also working working their back muscles. They really need to put in a big effort with less mileage on their legs."

The stint in Berry appeared to pay dividends, with Asterius' recent record including securing a handicap win over 1500m at Rosehill Gardens on November 2.

Waller's attention will now shift to the million dollar The Gong Race at Kembla Grange this Saturday.

"We've been pretty lucky working closely with Chris," Roberts said.

"We've had Winx here before she ever won a race. We've had a really high calibre of horses come through our farm and [it's great] seeing a horse like Astrerius kicking a goal.

"He's a really nice individual. As you would see from the photos, he's a good looking grey horse.

"He's no problem at all, he's an absolute gentleman."

See more: Waller preparing Asterius for Wollongong's richest horse race

Boyndon Park hosts up to 60 horses at a time.

They are usually given a four to six-week spell before starting pre-training, which usually lasts around the same time frame.

Roberts said the horse was ready to hit the ground running when they returned to their trainer.

"The horses are fed on the same race feed as the trainers have them on so they're not losing nutritional value when they come out to the paddock," she said.

"When they go back to the trainer, they'e in good condition. They haven't built up too much internal fat, they're hit and can hit the ground running. We invariably find the trainers are jumping their horses out or even trialing them within a two-week period.

"Not only does it benefit the horses, there is upside for the owners because you're not wasting precious time and money.

"They're ready to kick off again."

There were 25 nominations on Monday morning for The Gong race over 1600m.

Asterius is one of four Waller runners nominated alongside Gresham, Star of the Seas and Mister Sea Wolf.

Mister Sea Wolf's recent record includes saluting in the Shannon Stakes at Rosehill in September.

Newcastle's Kris Lees has also nominated four horses - Articus, El Dorado Dreaming, Nicoletta and Turnberry.

Other top trainers to nominate for The Gong include Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, whose runner Taikomochi finished third in the Ladies Day Cup at Hawkesbury on November 7.

Kembla Grange's premier trainer Gwenda Markwell will have one runner, Esteem Spirit, in the major race at her home track.

The five-year-old gelding won the first heat of the Class 5 Provincial Summer Series (1400m) at Kembla Grange last Saturday.

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