Via Sistina Dazzles in Championship Stakes

Via Sistina (IRE) produced a dominant display to score a remarkable 12th triumph at the highest level when successfully defending her crown in the Champions Stakes (G1) Nov. 8 on a wet, windy, and unseasonably cold day at Flemington. The heavy conditions did not faze the reigning Australian Horse of the Year, who tracked up three-wide with cover under James McDonald and put her rivals away in typically effortless fashion. She crossed the line 2.8 lengths ahead of Zambardo (NZ) with Tom Kitten (AUS) finishing a further 0.7 lengths away in third. Last year Via Sistina landed the group 1 off the back of a victory in the Cox Plate (G1) and she repeated the same feat Saturday. Chris Waller said he was delighted to see the mare continue to perform at the highest level as she approaches the twilight of her career. "She was tough today. She went back from the draw, James didn't panic, and it was awesome to see her in the straight," the winning trainer said. "They (Yulong) are sportsmen, they love their racing. I knew not to ask because I knew they'd have liked her to race here. It was as simple as that." Waller said since joining his stable in 2024, Via Sistina has gone from strength to strength and 12 group 1s later can now boast just shy of AU$19.5 million in career earnings. "We were told she was a very good horse. Her international form was something special and it's rare for us to get a really high-class horse down here like her and she was just maturing," he said. "We've got her at the right time. They did an amazing job with her over there looking after her. She was a big, raw mare and didn't worry about her age. She's just matured. Despite the baltic conditions in Melbourne, Waller said the racing at Flemington had given fans a day to savor. "Seeing the Sprint, the Mile, and now this race, it's giving everyone an extra taste of the great horses," he said. "They have given the racing public something to cheer for and what a great day it's been with Ceolwulf, Giga Kick, and now Via Sistina. Three serious horses on an amazing day of racing. "They're tough horses and when you look after them, they look after you." The win marked an impressive milestone for the Waller/ McDonald axis, with the victory delivering the combination a 50th group 1 win in partnership. Waller said: "It is an honor to be working with him. It makes my job and possibly his job that little bit easier." Giga Kick Adds to Group 1 Tally With Gripping Sprint Success Reborn sprinter Giga Kick (AUS) secured his third top-tier triumph two-and-a-half years after his second with a gripping victory in the Champions Sprint (G1). The Clayton Douglas-trained gelding had shaped as a potential champion early in his career, winning his first five starts culminating in The Everest of 2022. But while he managed his first two group 1 successes at starts 9 and 10 in Randwick's All Aged Stakes (G1) and the Doomben Ten Thousand (G1) in the late autumn of 2023, injuries conspired to dull his progress, restricting the 6-year-old to just 18 starts before Saturday. This preparation, however, he resumed with his first win since that Doomben Ten Thousand success, taking the Caulfield Schillaci Stakes (G2), and in the toughness of a Heavy 9 at Flemington, the hulking chestnut looked back to his best, fighting out a titanic duel with wet track demon Magic Time (AUS) to prevail by 0.2 lengths. The race was hit by drama before it began, with favorite Tentyris (AUS) was ruled out under veterinary advice after the star Godolphin 3-year-old colt had reared in the gates and put a leg over a partition. Mark Zahra settled AU$5 shot Giga Kick in the middle of the nine-runner ruck behind the pacemakers, who including AU$2.70 favorite Joliestar (AUS), while Michael Dee sat out the back on AU$11 chance Magic Time. With the field drifting towards the outside rail, Dee took Magic Time to the inside and she and Giga Kick—emerging through the center—took up the running at the 150 meters. While Grahame Begg's mare was a head in front at the 50 meters and appearing likely to slip away, Giga Kick gritted his teeth and fought back to score the bravest of wins. The sprinter who put his sire Scissor Kick (AUS) on the map—before he was sold off to another part of the map entirely to stand in his present home of Tunisia—has now earned almost AU$15 million with the AU$1.8 million first prize from his ninth win. "He's a champ, this horse, and I love him," an elated Douglas told Racing.com. Ceolwulf Comes Out on Top in Titanic Champions Mile Tussle Joe Pride declared Ceolwulf (NZ) had removed any doubt he was the best horse he'd trained after the gelding's triumph in an epic Champions Mile (G1). Appallingly cold, wet, and windy conditions on the last day of the Melbourne Cup carnival at least provided the backdrop to two of the most stirring finishes of the week, 40 minutes apart. First, Giga Kick overcame Magic Time by 0.2 lengths after a tooth-and-nail final furlong of the Champions Sprint. One race later, Ceolwulf and Pericles (AUS) came away from their seven rivals in a gripping struggle in the Mile. Pride of Jenni (AUS) set out to repeat her usual bold front-running display but in the Heavy 9 conditions was a spent force by the turn. Treasurethe Moment (AUS) had this time tried to put pressure on Pride Of Jenni in front, but while she held the lead for the first half of the home straight, her run also petered out. With AU$2.90 favorite Mr Brightside (NZ) clearly not going to threaten, it was left to Warwick Farm rivals—Pride's Ceolwulf and Bjorn Baker's Godolphin-raced gelding Pericles—to battle for the victory, moving up in better going out wide, after traveling fourth and fifth in the run respectively. Pericles, at AU$19 to Ceolwulf's AU$5, gained the clear ascendancy, going to the front by a neck at the 150 meters with the race seemingly at his mercy. But under vigorous riding from Chad Schofield, the blinkered Ceolwulf, now with a clear view of his rival, fought back heroically as the pair went to the line together, with Pride's charge ultimately prevailing by a threadbare 0.06 lengths. Baker's other runnerStefi Magnetica (AUS) was third at AU$11, a gaping 4.56 lengths away, with Treasurethe Moment hanging on for fourth at AU$5 to close out an unfulfilled spring, and Mr Brightside fifth. Pride has had such group 1 luminaries in his stable as Terravista, Think About It, Eduardo and Vision And Power. But he said 5-year-old Ceolwulf had erased any lingering doubts that he deserved to be ranked above them all following this fourth elite success, and his second in as many starts after successfully defending his title in Randwick's King Charles II Stakes (Gr 1, 1609m) Oct.18 "I've thought for a long time he's the best horse I've trained and with his last two wins, he's certainly cemented his spot there," Pride told Racing.com.