‘I was proud, simple as that’: Trainer Chris Waller lauds Via Sistina for 2025 Verry Elleegant Stakes triumph
Via Sistina is a virtual lock for Horse of the Year after demonstrating the indomitable spirit of a champion to win at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
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Via Sistina is a virtual lock for Horse of the Year after demonstrating the indomitable spirit of a champion to win at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
The epic finish to the Group 1 $1 million Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m) might have been a nervous watch of punters who took the short odds of $1.60 about Via Sistina but there can only be admiration for the mare’s fierce determination and will-to-win.
Fangirl seemed set to cause an upset when she unleashed her finishing sprint but try as she might, she couldn’t get past Via Sistina.
Trainer Chris Waller, who prepared the Group 1 trifecta with Via Sistina, Fangirl and Lindermann, said the race was one to remember.
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“I knew it was going to be a battle of tactics, it was a great race,’’ Waller said. “The last 200m I was proud, simple as that. Unfortunately there had to be a winner.”
Waller secured a record 11th win in the Verry Elleegant (formerly Chipping Norton) Stakes – eclipsing the legendary Tommy Smith’s 10 wins – when Via Sistina held off Fangirl ($3.30) to win by a head with Lindermann ($11) a short head away third.
McDonald seized the early initiative when he settled Via Sistina midfield and in front of Fangirl and that proved decisive in what was a compelling contest.
Oh yes she's brave!
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 1, 2025
Via Sistina adds another G1 to her list, and thrills us in the TAB Verry Elleegant Stakes! And it's a G1 double to @cwallerracing - @mcacajamez! 🤩@YulongInvest | @aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/yHSlubvXvz
• What the jockeys said: 2025 Verry Elleegant Stakes
“I thought they are supposed to be easier than that but Via Sistina was great,’’ McDonald said.
“Second-up last preparation was her worst run so we had that in the back of our mind and she’s come away and obviously got through that well.
“It’s all upside from here. There’s no guarantees in racing, but she’s going to be awfully hard to beat, especially now that that second-up run is out of the way.
“We all know what she can do third and fourth-up, and her big one is fourth-up (Queen Elizabeth Stakes), and that’s when she won her Cox Plate last spring (by eight lengths in track record time).
“Hopefully she can get somewhere near that. She probably won’t ever get near that again but at least she can get somewhere near that.”
“She digs deep.â€
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 1, 2025
Via Sistina was so tough in the TAB Verry Elleegant Stakes today - hear from @mcacajamez@cwallerracing after another G1 win 💪@YulongInvest | @aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/fmYVASTEz0
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Waller and McDonald, Sydney’s champion trainer and jockey, combined to win both Group 1 races at Randwick with Via Sistina’s win coming after 35 minutes after stablemate and hot favourite Lady Shenandoah won the Surround Stakes.
Waller’s brace of majors takes his career Group 1 tally to 173, third behind Smith and Bart Cummings who both ended their careers with 246 majors each.
McDonald has now ridden 111 Group 1 winners – 85 in Australia – to also be third on the all-time list behind Damien Oliver (129 wins) and George Moore (126).
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With her fifth Group 1 of the season, Via Sistina seems certain to claim Horse of the Year – a remarkable rise to stardom from a mare who began her race career in Europe and arrived in Sydney less than 12 months ago.
“It’s been a great story,’’ trainer Chris Waller said. “A year ago she wasn’t even in our lives, just a horse in quarantine and we were just starting getting to know her.
“What’s happened in the past 12 months, it’s quite remarkable.”
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Via Sistina won the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at her Australian debut in March last year then returned in spring to win four of her five starts, all at Group 1 level – Winx Stakes, Turnbull Stakes, Cox Plate and Champions Stakes.
Waller said as good as Via Sistina was winning the Verry Elleegant Stakes, the mare is even better when she gets to 2000m, confirming her next start will be the Group 1 $1 million Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on March 22. On the same day, Fangirl will go to the Group 1 $1 million George Ryder Stakes (1500m).
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“I’ll have a talk to the Yulong team and I’ll give them my plan to make sure Via Sistina is peaking for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (April 12),’’ Waller said.
“Traditionally I would normally go to the George Ryder but with her I’d be more inclined to go to the Ranvet because I think she’s a better 2000m horse.
“She showed when she won the Cox Plate and she actually won those three 2000m races. She won the Turnbull, the Cox Plate and then she won on the last day (Champions Stakes).
“So she can sustain herself at 2000m – and Fangirl might just breathe a sigh of relief.”
Originally published as ‘I was proud, simple as that’: Trainer Chris Waller lauds Via Sistina for 2025 Verry Elleegant Stakes triumph
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