The Group I $1million ATC Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday was always going to be won by a Chris Waller trained runner when talented gelding Ceolwulf was scratched on the morning of the race and it was the favourite Via Sistina (IRE), who did best in a titanic battle to shade her stablemates Fangirl and Lindermann.
Third to Fangirl and Lindermann in the Group II ATC Apollo Stakes (1400m) two weeks ago, the giant imported daughter of Fastnet Rock was able to turn the tables with a step up in trip and a flawless ride from James McDonald.
All three horses ran exceptionally well to the great satisfaction of Chris Waller.
"I knew it was going to be a battle of tactics, and James was concerned about the draw (barrier 8), in terms of where we would get to," Waller said
"The track is racing pretty quick today and it is hard to make up a lot of ground so the last 200m I was proud, simple as that.
"Unfortunately there had to be a winner.
"It's been a great story. Twelve months ago she (Via Sistina) wasn't even in our lives, just a horse in quarantine and we were just starting getting to know her. And what's happened in the past 12 months, it's quite remarkable.
"As with Fangirl, she was here last year and then she went missing and she couldn't run in the George Ryder. And Lindermann has had a setback as well, so they've all come back and done us very proud."
Waller said his glamour mares were now likely to diverge in their autumn campaigns with Fangirl to run in the Group I ATC George Ryder Stakes (1500m) and Via Sistina in the Group I ATC Ranvet Stakes (2000m) with both run on March 22 en-route to the Group I ATC Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Via Sistina has now won six G1 races in Australia and will be a short priced favourite to be crowned Australian Horse of the Year for this season and James McDonald has ridden her in four of those G1 wins and believes there are more to come.
"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, so that's when she won her Cox Plate,” he said.
“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."
The current superstar performer in the stellar Yulong racing stable, 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 in 2023 fetching 2.7million guineas to the bid of Yulong be the second highest priced mare at the sale.
Bred on the hugely successful Fastnet Rock x Galileo nick, Via Sistina has the overall record of 11 wins and seven placings from 23 starts with over $9million in prizemoney and is the best of two 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.
