Close, but the cigar is not yet forthcoming for Via Sistina after her triumphal march through the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Having smashed the course record in the Cox Plate two weeks earlier with an eight-length victory in Australia’s premier weight-for-age race, the six-year-old returned with a dominant display in the G1 Champions Stakes on Saturday [Nov 9] as the Melbourne Cup week drew to a close at Flemington.
Via Sistina barely broke sweat in dismissing a field laden with G1 winners, coming home 2¾ lengths ahead of Atishu under world #2 James McDonald, who broke the record for winners at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
In recording the sixth G1 success of her career, Via Sistina moves up to #2 (from #7, +93pt) in the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings, behind only world leader Kyprios, who leads the way for a fourth week with a margin of only 26pts.
A G1 winner in Europe for former trainer George Boughey, Via Sistina was purchased by Yulong Investments (#7 from #12, +120pt on owners’ list) for 2.7m guineas at Tattersalls December Mares Sale and has won five of her seven starts since for trainer Chris Waller (stays at #6), all of them in the highest grade.
“It was very special,” Waller told Channel 9 TV. “Winning the Cox Plate the way she did, I think caught everyone by surprise.
“And then the pressure to back her up and go one more run – we spoke about sport analogies and having another game after a grand final and we were thinking about it constantly. But she’s a very, very special horse, obviously.”
Also on the move is Australian-trained compatriot Mr Brightside (#12 from #18, +78pt), who landed his latest G1 success in the Champions Mile on the same card.
Fan favourite Pride Of Jenni (#15 from #12, -41pt), the reigning Horse of the Year, was retired after bleeding from both nostrils and coming last.
Sunshine In Paris (#44 from #173, +155pt) edged out Right To Party in the tightest of finishes to the Champions Sprint. Star sprinter Bella Nipotina was another short head back in third.
Shock Melbourne Cup winner Knight’s Choice (#271 from #1145, +284pt) had won only a minor G3 event on the Sunshine Coast before his shock 90-1 success but Crown Oaks heroine Treasurethe Moment (#37 from #263, +238pt) has cracked the Top 40.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
Breeders’ Cup rankings update: Thorpedo Anna ascends to world #2 spot after dismissing Distaff foes
Rankings update: Aussie star Via Sistina up to world #4 after stunning Cox Plate display
‘He is a very special horse’ – staying phenomenon Kyprios claims #1 spot on world rankings
• 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.