The Melbourne Cup Carnival drew to a close with a star-studded card at Flemington on Saturday [Nov 8] featuring three G1 events highlighted by a dominant victory for Via Sistina in the Champions Stakes.
After a narrow verdict in the Cox Plate, in which the reigning Australian Horse of the Year just held off stablemate Buckaroo, this was altogether a more comfortable affair.
Sent off an odds-on favourite on a track rated ‘heavy’ for the TAB-sponsored contest, Via Sistina (#5 from #6, +46pt) duly registered a remarkable 12th G1 success by nearly three lengths over outsider Zambardo – in the process climbing back into the world’s Top 5 according to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings.
The victory marked a 50th G1 in tandem for the partnership of trainer Chris Waller (#5 from #4, -64pt) and jockey James McDonald (stays at #2, -3pt).
“There’s no pressure, no pre-race stress, and I didn’t even give any instructions,” reported Waller. “He said, ‘I’ll go and ride her like Hughie used to ride Winx … best horse in the race, give her some clean air,’ and I said, ‘that sounds good to me!’”
McDonald, who now sets off for his annual Hong Kong sojourn, was full of praise for seven-year-old Via Sistina. “She deserves her champion status,” he said.
“She sits alongside some of the greats that have ever graced our racetracks and I think she really deserves that because she's been a long servant and a fantastic one at that.”
The remainder of a showpiece card was highlighted by a pair of rousing G1 finishes, starting with the VRC Champions Sprint, in which the 2023 Everest winner Giga Kick (#26 from #77, +187pt) recorded his third G1 success.
It has been quite a comeback for the six-year-old, who in an injury-hit career hadn’t won a race of any kind for two and a half years before his G2 win at Caulfield on his previous outing four weeks earlier.
However, there is no doubting the gelding’s ability when he is right – and there is no doubting his heart, either, as he fought back to get the better of noted wet-tracker Magic Time by a head in Saturday’s race.
“He’s a champ, this horse, and I love him,” said trainer Clayton Douglas. “He’s done so much for my career, and he’s taken me everywhere with Group 1 wins in Sydney and Queensland.
“He just fronts up – he’s an older horse and he missed 12 months with injury,” he added. “He’s done a tremendous job to get back to Group 1 level and I will be forever grateful for him.”
Giga Kick was an eighth winner of the Melbourne Cup Carnival for jockey Mark Zahra (#18 from #22, +22pt), who thereby sealed the Ron Hutchinson Award as the week’s most successful jockey.
The third G1 winner of the day was Ceolwulf (#25 from #55, +136pt), who touched off Pericles in a red-hot edition of the Lexus Champions Mile for trainer Joe Pride (#38 from #46, +44pt).
Among those well beaten were some of the biggest names in Aussie racing, among them multiple G1 winners such as Treasurethe Moment (fourth), Mr Brightside (fifth) and Pride Of Jenni (eighth).
This was a first run outside Sydney in 25 starts for Ceolwulf, who had landed the valuable King Charles III Stakes on his previous run at Randwick three weeks earlier.
It wasn’t all beer and skittles, though, as winning rider Chad Schofield copped a 29-meeting ban for careless riding and excessive whip use.
In Europe, trainer George Scott (#78 from #113, +42pt) and Bahraini-based owners Victorious Forever enjoyed a second G1 win for the season as three-year-old Bay City Roller (#135 from #575, +238pt) made all for a seven-length score in soft ground in the Grosser Preis von Bayern at Munich racecourse. The same connections landed the Prix du Cadran at the Arc meeting with Caballo De Mar.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
Relief as superstar mare Via Sistina claims 11th Group 1 success in Cox Plate – but only just
‘He’s a special horse’ – Ka Ying Rising confirms world #1 status with brilliant Everest win
‘She looks a serious filly, make no mistake’ – Aidan O’Brien full of praise for Precise
• 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.