- Via Sistina returned home in a record Cox Plate
- Mare is now the absolute favorite for the Melbourne Cup
- It has not been decided whether he will compete in the Melbourne Cup.
Dominant Cox Plate winner Via Sistina has rocketed towards outright Melbourne Cup favoritism despite not yet being a confirmed starter for the nation-stopping race.
Via Sistina looks set to take on the iconic 3200m handicap race at Flemington on November 5 after breaking Winx’s race record in the 2040m Group 1 trial at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The Chris Waller-trained seven-year-old mare jumped third favorite and won the Australasian weight-for-age championship by a record eight lengths over pre-race favourite, Prognosis.
But the connections of Via Sistina – bought by Yulong Investments for $5.5 million in December last year – will “let the dust settle” before deciding whether to back it in the Melbourne Cup.
The Group 1 Champions Stakes at Flemington on November 9 is another option.
“We’re not ruling anything out at this point…we’re just going to enjoy the moment,” Yulong general manager Vin Cox said after the Cox Plate win.
Online betting sites opened with Via Sistina as a $51 chance in the Melbourne Cup, and she was a $21 fan before the Cox Plate, but her odds were cut to $5 on Saturday night.
Northern Hemisphere raider Jan Brueghel ($7), Waller’s Caulfield Cup runner-up Buckaroo ($8) and Geelong Cup winner Onesmoothoperator ($9) are also among the market’s top contenders.
Via Sistina came home in a record-breaking Cox Plate race on Saturday, dominating the field
If she starts and is successful, Via Sistina would become the second galloper to achieve the Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double this century, after the legendary mare Makybe Diva (2005).
Three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva is one of five to have completed the celebrated double, along with Nightmarch (1929), Phar Lap (1930), Rising Fast (1954) and Saintly (1996).
James McDonald led Via Sistina to his impressive Cox Plate victory and was amazed by the display.
“She won as Winx… it was just a phenomenal performance,” McDonald told the Seven Network.
It was McDonald’s third straight Cox Plate win, following wins with Romantic Warrior last year and Anamoe in 2022, and his 100th Group 1 win.
Surprisingly, Via Sistina had been seriously hesitant to start the race after knocking down McDonald during track work four days earlier.
Via Sistina also broke the record in her eight-body demolition job, recording a time of 2.01.07 that broke the record set by Winx in 2017.
The incident forced a complete rethink of her preparation for Waller, who was not interested in taking credit for the mare’s quick recovery.
“We’ve done these things before,” the coach told Seven.
“Forget what happened on Tuesday, she’s a good horse and (it was) my job to prove it.”
Waller-trained Land Legend ($26) and Kovalica ($31) are also Melbourne Cup contenders.
Waller has won the Melbourne Cup once, when McDonald rode Verry Elleegant to victory in 2021.
Meanwhile, champion jockey Jamie Kah wasted no time finding another trip to the Melbourne Cup after Point King was scrapped, booked for fellow Ciaron Maher-trained Okita Soushi.
Point King had been among the leading contenders, but connections on Saturday notified stewards that the Irish import would not be in the field when third acceptances were taken on Monday.
Kah hopes to become the second jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, following Michelle Payne’s big win with the $101 outsider Prince Of Penzance in 2015.
