- Via Sistina is favorite to win the Melbourne Cup
- Mare broke the record previously held by Winx
Record Cox Plate champion Via Sistina is now the overwhelming favorite to win the Melbourne Cup after completely dominating the field to win by an incredible eight lengths, but there is no guarantee she will be in the race that stops a nation.
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 her in next week’s Melbourne Cup or let her rest.
“There are a lot worse decisions to be made than this,” said Yulong general manager Vin Cox.
‘We just want to let the horse calm down and see where we are, get our feet back on the ground and clear our minds.
Champion jockey James McDonald rode Via Sistina to his impressive victory in the Cox Plate and on Monday morning he was still processing the impressive fight.
Via Sistina came home in a record-breaking Cox Plate race on Saturday, dominating the field
Mare is now the absolute favorite for the Melbourne Cup, but is not yet confirmed to compete.
“It’s obviously a very difficult race to win, it takes a lot of things to do well. I couldn’t believe the style with which he did it,” he told RSN Breakfast radio.
“He has done it spectacularly.”
Via Sistina had serious doubts about starting the race after knocking down McDonald during track work four days earlier.
‘Nothing went well.
“It was a very hectic week, but she pulled through and produced the products that day.”
McDonald went on to say that Via Sistina seems to have progressed very well after the Cox Plate and believes he has a chance in the Melbourne Cup, should he run.
“If she enters the Melbourne Cup, I have no doubt… her class will take her very, very far and I think she will be incredibly difficult to beat.”
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.
Champion jockey James McDonald fancies his chances in the race that will stop the nation
Via Sistina has recovered well from the Cox Plate by all accounts
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.
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).
Yulong paid $5.5 million for Via Sistina last year, but having won four Group 1 awards, he has earned more than $6.7 million in prize money with much more on the way.
“It looks cheap now,” Cox said.
“Everything seems cheap when you win races like this.
“He’s had four Group 1s and a second… (since coming to Australia), and every race he’s (competed in) since he got here has been Group 1.”
“They don’t give away those in Group 1, and that she continues to do so, that is extraordinary.”
“You never expect to win a Cox Plate-caliber race that way.
“I am very happy for the boss (Mr. Zhang) and his family, who put a lot into the game.”