Fresh from a virtuoso performance to win the Group I MVRC Cox Plate in track record time, Yulong owned Fastnet Rock mare Via Sistina (IRE) turned on the afterburners again at Flemington on Saturday to win the Group I VRC Champions Stakes (2000m) by nearly three lengths.
Yulong have plundered elite horse sales all over the world in recent years and one of their big ticket items last year was Group I winning mare Via Sistina, who has now cemented her place at the end of this spring as the best racehorse in Australia.
The seven year-old has blossomed in the care of champion trainer Chris Waller and under a perfect ride from James McDonald delivered another superlative display.
She settled back in the field before gradually working her way into contention and when Via Sistina hit top gear that was that with last start Group I winner Atishu gallant in second place ahead of last year’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cup winner Without a Fight (IRE), who ran a terrific race at his first run since suffering a tendon issue last year.
“That was awesome. Everything just went beautifully to plan. I had the horse to really give me a smooth ride. 600m, 400m, I was just like changing gears and she just went,” said James McDonald.
"She's lightly raced. She's just coming into her own. And like I said during the week, she just thrives on work. It's great for the whole team there. Chris and his team have done an incredible job. It always comes with risk, running a horse after a Cox Plate like she did."
Chris Waller feels privileged to have Via Sistina in the stable.
"Very special to get the opportunity to train a horse with European form lines like she had was pretty special,” Waller said.
“She did it first-up in a Ranvet and announced herself, and she's just done it consistently since, over 1400 (metres) and then coming out and winning a Turnbull and Cox Plates and then the Mackinnon (Champions) Stakes. It's a pretty special horse, so I'm appreciative for getting her to train. It's great to see the international form lines coming together.
“I might take her back to England. No, I' ll talk to Mr. Zhang and his family and, wherever she goes, it's a bonus really, with what she's done this year. We’ll give her a spell now and, I guess, look at a Queen Elizabeth."
Via Sistina is a fascinating horse as she is the original ugly duckling that grew into a swan.
Her original owners Stephen and Becky Hillen purchased her as a yearling for 5,000 guineas at the Tattersalls December Sale and they were over the moon when she sold at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale last year fetching 2.7million guineas to the bid of Yulong be the second highest priced mare at the sale.
Via Sistina has the overall record of 10 wins and six placings from 20 starts and is the best of four winners from Nigh, an unraced half-sister by Galileo to dual Group I winning sprinter Kingsgate Native.
Her sire Fastnet Rock is now enjoying a well earned retirement at Coolmore Australia and his place on the roster has been taken by his promising young son Acrobat.
An interesting, but lesser known fact in Australia about Via Sistina is that she was bred by a small stud in the UK called Laundry Cottage Stud Farm, owned by Melba and Colin Bryce with help from daughter Gina, a renowned presenter on Sky Sports Racing and her siblings with Alex Elliott, Gina’s husband the Stud Manager.
Particularly interesting for Australia, is that they also bred Wootton Bassett, who was a multiple Group I winner and is now one of the world’s hottest sires with his first Australian bred progeny racing here this season and they include exciting colt West of Swindon, who made his debut with a second in the $1million ATC Golden Gift at Rosehill on Saturday.
