After a couple of defeats, Australia’s superstar mare Via Sistina came good when it really mattered to record her 11th G1 success in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday [Oct 28].
It was a mighty close-run thing, however, as the seven-year-old short-headed her Chris Waller-trained stablemate Buckaroo to record back-to-back victories in Australia’s most prestigious weight-for-age contest.
In getting the better of a fierce duel up the straight, Via Sistina confirmed her place in the top five of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings, where she climbs a spot to #4 (from #5, +48pt).
Having won last year’s Cox Plate by a stunning eight lengths, this was a rather different affair for Via Sistina as she had to battle all the way to win the final running of the A$6m ($3.93m/£2.95m) contest before the Valley undergoes a A$220m facelift.
Jockey James McDonald (stays at #2, +11pt) was winning the race for the fourth year in succession after Anamoe (2022), Romantic Warrior (2023) and Via Sistina herself in 2024.
“I think this one is relief as well,” said the former world #1. “I love this place. I’m blessed to ride champion racehorses. Blessed to be a part of a champion stable. Even though it wasn’t seven lengths ... I’m just over the moon.
“And you know what, I’m just rapt that it was a proper run Cox Plate. That’s what Cox Plates are all about. Best horse shone through, and she deserves all she gets.”
According to Waller, the Cox Plate principals are set for a rematch in the G1 Champions Stakes at Flemington on November 8.
World #1 trainer Aidan O’Brien (stays at #1, +36pt) warmed up for the Breeders’ Cup with a clean sweep of three G1 events for two-year-olds in Europe last weekend.
Hawk Mountain set the ball rolling at Doncaster on Saturday [Oct 25] when leading a home a 1-2-3 for the trainer in the William Hill Futurity. The son of Wootton Bassett (stays at #4 on sires’ list, +55pt) supplanted his stablemate Benvenuto Cellini (only third here on heavy ground he didn’t like) as ante-post favourite for next year’s Derby after a decisive half-length verdict under Ronan Whelan.
“I’d say he’s a Classic horse that could start off being a miler and go on up to a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half,” said O’Brien, who now has 263 weeks at the top of our trainers’ list.
“You couldn't be happier with him – he's one of those nice, uncomplicated, powerful, big horses. He's big but he's athletic.”
Maybe so, but Hawk Mountain’s stay at the head of the Derby lasted barely 24 hours until O’Brien recorded a G1 double at Saint-Cloud on Sunday [Oct 26].
Puerto Rico, another son of much missed Wootton Bassett, followed up his Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere victory with a second French G1 as he made all for a comfortable success in the Criterium International over a mile.
He’s now vying for favoritism for next year’s 2,000 Guineas. “We were thinking of going to the Breeders' Cup with him, but when Gstaad went to the Breeders' Cup, we said we'd let him come here,” said O’Brien, speaking to the Racing Post.
“He’ll start in a Guineas. He’s a classy horse who I see as a real miler but because he's so relaxed I think he will get further.”
An hour later Pierre Bonnard – by Camelot (#27 from #32, +22pt), this one – completed a hat-trick with an impressive display in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud over ten furlongs.
“Obviously Pierre Bonnard is a Derby horse,” said O’Brien, who has now saddled 25 G1 winners in 2025 – just three short of his own record.
He added: “He’s a beautiful horse with a long stride and a beautiful mind, and he stays very well, so he's very exciting for next year.”
Christophe Soumillon (#21 from #25, +24pt) is certainly enjoying his spell as ‘supersub’ for the sidelined Ryan Moore. “This is just mad,” he said. “To win two Group 1s on the same day under hands-and-heels rides!”
Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show (#31 from #81, +129pt) held off Rattle N Roll to land a second consecutive running of the G3 Fayette on the closing day of Keeneland’s Fall Meet. The five-year-old nudged Wathnan Racing (#6 from #7, +29pt) up another spot on the owners’ rankings.
Also worth a mention is Juan Hernandez (#8 from #10, +26pt), who somehow seems to slip under the radar, despite leading the way in the Southern Californian jockey colony.
Hernandez landed another couple of graded stakes this weekend for trainer Graham Motion (#63 from #112, +70pt) via Twilight Derby winner Test Score and Warming.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.