Everything about Via Sistina (IRE) is impressive – from her unique physique to her giant stride to her unshakeable serenity – and the daughter of Fastnet Rock produced another virtuoso performance at Randwick on Saturday to win the $5million Group I ATC Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) in race record time and very nearly course record time.
Trained by Chris Waller and ridden by James McDonald, Via Sistina jumped fairly from gate one and settled off the speed as she always does and when asked to get going was quick to respond.
McDonald charted a path between runners for the great mare and when she hit top gear it was game over.
Via Sistina powered clear to win by nearly two lengths over gallant international raider Dubai Honour (IRE), who won this race in 2003.
The mighty mare clocked the 2000m trip in a 2min 0.41sec, setting a new race record that was just a tick outside the longstanding course record of 2mim 0.30sec that Hampton Court ran in 2014. The run was two seconds quicker than this race last year when she finished second to Pride of Jenni.
Via Sistina is the first horse since Winx to win seven G1 races in a season and she is a certainty to be crowned Australian Horse of the Year for 2024/2025.
“We've got a great team, but she just shows the difference between a good horse and a champion,” said Chis Waller.
“She's a big horse, and she's quite scary, really. We don't ask her too much at home. We just hold her together and know that it's their on race day.
“So when you are looking for them to sprint, and when she sprinted, the acceleration was there.
“We're still getting to know her. It's as simple as that, and she's well into her twilight years, but it's scary, really, how good she is.
“Yulong are a great supporter of racing. They have brought a lot of money to Australia, which is great for the bloodstock economy, he's pushed the values right up and he's not afraid to have a go and race these horses, so it's an honour to be training for them.”
James McDonald has forged a great association with Via Sistina and has ridden her in six of her eight G1 wins since coming to Australia at this time last year.
"I thought the one I was following (Geoglyph) was going to kick for a gap and he just didn't go for it and I ended up having to back off him,'' said James McDonald.
"But she was so superior. Once I got those gaps, she sliced through and went bang.
"Chris just trains her up beautifully every time, he did it for a Cox Plate, he's done it again for the Queen Elizabeth.
"You could poke holes in her performances coming into today because she hasn't been winning by big margins, but that's the type of horse she is now, she only does what she has to.
"She felt like she was going to rip away and then at the furlong she's just doing enough. She's just a very good horse."
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 to be the second highest priced mare at the sale.
Via Sistina has the overall record of 13 wins and seven placings from 24 starts with prizemoney just shy of $13million and is the best of two winners from Nigh, an unraced half-sister by Galileo to dual Group I winning sprinter Kingsgate Native.
She is the greatest of all time by her sire Fastnet Rock, who 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.
