Via Sistina matches Winx by taking out $5m Randwick feature race

James McDonald produced a gem of a ride to help Via Sistina win the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) and equal the feat of the great Winx by claiming a seventh group 1 in a season.

The superstar seven-year-old mare was the $1.95 Sportsbet favourite to take out The Championships’ day-two headline weight-for-age race at Randwick, but she was slow away from gate one.

James McDonald wins on Via Sistinain the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.Credit: Getty Images

It proved no barrier for Via Sistina, or McDonald, who peeled her out on the home turn and waited patiently for a run, which came at around the 350m mark. The Irish-bred mare, a $5.4 million buy for Yulong Investments, cruised through to score her eighth group 1 win in Australia and ninth overall.

English star Dubai Honour was a game second, one and three-quarter lengths back.

The victory was redemption for Via Sistina, after finishing second behind Pride Of Jenni’s amazing front-running effort last year.

“She just keeps turning up every week, I’d like to have a few more like her,” Waller said.

‘James has continued to mature and not panic, that’s the key to winning these big races.’

Chris Waller on James McDonald

“And we have, we’ve got a great team, but she just shows the difference between a good horse and a champion.”

As for what he was thinking in the run, Waller said he was panicking.

“I’m thinking that we were saving ground, it was an economical run, we had the right man aboard,” he said.

“James has continued to mature and not panic, that’s the key to winning these big races. The big jockeys win them all the time. To have one of them on your horse’s back is a big plus for your team.

James McDonald after winning aboard Via Sistina.Credit: Getty Images

“She’s a big, big horse and she’s quite scary really, we don’t ask her too much at home, we just hold it together and know that it’s their race day.

“You’re looking for them to sprint, and when she sprints, the acceleration is there. We’re still getting to know her, it’s as simple as that, and she’s well into her twilight years. It’s scary, really, how good she is.”

When asked if Via Sistina would race on, Waller said he would have to ask the “big boss” about that, referring to Yulong owner Yuesheng Zhang. Yulong indicated after last year’s Cox Plate that the plan was for a title defence in the weight-for-age championship in the spring at Moonee Valley.

McDonald said he was worried, but for only a moment, in the run on Saturday.

“She felt like she was going to rip away and then at the furlong, she’s just doing enough,” McDonald said.

“Very good horse. There was one little worrying moment, I thought the one I was following was going to kick for a gap and he just didn’t go for it and I ended up back off him, but she was superior.”

It was deja vu for McDonald and Waller in the last group 1 of the day, the Queen Of The Turf, when Fangirl came from well back with an inside run to win as an odds-on favourite.

It was a fourth group 1 for the six-year-old mare, which Waller said would race on in the spring with a title defence in the King Charles III Stakes in his sights.

James McDonald won the Queen Of The Turf with Fangirl.Credit: Getty Images

McDonald, who missed last week’s meeting, won a record fifth Nathan Berry Medal as the rider of the Championships with three wins and a second. He finished two points clear of Jason Collett.

Meanwhile, Victorian trainer Matt Laurie declared Treasurethe Moment the best filly in the country and indicated a campaign at the Cox Plate was on the cards after she surged late to complete the VRC and Australian Oaks (2400m) double.

The Yulong-owned $1.55 favourite, shooting for an eighth consecutive victory, was under pressure down the straight but made up lengths over the final furlong to catch Sun’ N’ Sand in the shadows of the post for a long neck win in the $1 million race.

“She had to really dig deep,” Laurie said.

“They weren’t going that quick, and she didn’t have cover for part of the race and she was on the wrong lead for a lot of it as well.

Damian Lane got the job done on Treasurethe Moment at Randwick on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

“They really went all together as a group off the turn and she was under a bit of siege.

“It was incredible really. I feel like I’m going to burst into tears.”

As for a next target, he said: “Who doesn’t love a Cox Plate?”

“I’m going to be guided a lot by what [jockey] Damian [Lane] thinks, but I feel like the 2000m, a bit more pace on, anything from a mile to 2000 with the pace on. She’s got a very good turn of foot, and whether we stretch her out to this again, I’m not sure.

“But for mine, she’s the best filly in the country.”

Laurie said he knew Treasurethe Moment was a special horse when she started her winning streak at Sandown on September 28.

“That was the day where I was like, I think we’ve got a nice filly here,” Laurie said.

After the meeting, Lane was fined $10,000 and suspended for two weeks for excessive whip use in the Oaks. Blake Shinn was suspended five meetings and Tommy Berry six for causing interference in the South Pacific Classic and Sydney Cup respectively.