Via Sistina shoots to Melbourne Cup favouritism after setting new standard at Cox Plate

Dominant Cox Plate winner Via Sistina has shot to outright Melbourne Cup favouritism despite not yet being a confirmed starter for the race that stops the nation.

Via Sistina looks primed to take on the iconic 3200m handicap at Flemington on November 5 after smashing Winx’s race record in the 2040m Group 1 feature at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

The Chris Waller-trained seven-year-old mare jumped as third-favourite and won Australasia’s weight-for-age championship by a record eight lengths from pre-race favourite Prognosis.

But connections of Via Sistina – bought by Yulong Investments for $5.5 million in December last year – will ‘let the dust settle’ before deciding whether to back her up in the Melbourne Cup.

The Group 1 Champions Stakes at Flemington on November 9 is another option.

‘We’re not going to rule anything out at this stage … we’re just going to enjoy the moment,’ Yulong general manager Vin Cox said after the Cox Plate triumph.

Online betting sites opened with Via Sistina as a $51 Melbourne Cup chance, and she was a $21 fancy before the Cox Plate, but her odds were slashed to $5 on Saturday night.

Northern hemisphere raider Jan Brueghel ($7), Waller’s Caulfield Cup runner-up Buckaroo ($8) and Geelong Cup winner Onesmoothoperator ($9) are also among the leading contenders in the market.

If she starts and is successful, Via Sistina would become only the second galloper to claim the Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double this century, after legendary mare Makybe Diva (2005).

Three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva is one of just five to have completed the feted double, along with Nightmarch (1929), Phar Lap (1930), Rising Fast (1954) and Saintly (1996).

James McDonald steered Via Sistina to her stunning Cox Plate victory and was in awe of the display.

‘She won like Winx … it was just a phenomenal performance,’ McDonald told the Seven Network.

It was McDonald’s third consecutive Cox Plate triumph – after wins with Romantic Warrior last year and Anamoe in 2022 – and his 100th Group 1 victory.

Remarkably, Via Sistina had been in serious doubt to start the race after throwing McDonald during trackwork four days earlier.

Via Sistina also broke the track record in her eight-length demolition job, recording a time of 2.01.07 that broke the record set by Winx back in 2017

The incident forced a complete rethink of her preparation by Waller, who wasn’t interested in taking credit for the mare’s quick recovery.

‘We’ve done these things before,’ the trainer told Seven.

‘Forget what happened Tuesday, she’s a good horse and (it was) my job to prove it.’

The Waller-trained Land Legend ($26) and Kovalica ($31) are also Melbourne Cup contenders.

Waller has won the Melbourne Cup once, when McDonald steered Verry Elleegant to victory in 2021.

Meanwhile, champion jockey Jamie Kah has wasted no time finding another Melbourne Cup ride after Point King was ruled out, booked to partner Ciaron Maher-trained Okita Soushi.

Point King had been among the leading contenders, but connections on Saturday notified stewards the Irish import would not be in the field when third acceptances are taken on Monday.

Kah is hoping to become just the second female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, after Michelle Payne’s breakthrough triumph on $101 outsider Prince Of Penzance in 2015.