There is a familiarity to the early-season campaign of Via Sistina, Australia’s reigning Horse of the Year.
In August of 2024, Via Sistina won the Group 1 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs in her first start after a four-month layoff. She was then third in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at a mile and rebounded to win the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Flemington Racecourse. Those races were within a six-week span.
On Aug. 23 of this year, Via Sistina won the Group 1 Winx Stakes in her first start in more than four months and was third by two lengths in the Makybe Diva Stakes on Sept. 13. On Friday evening, Via Sistina will be favored to win her 11th Group 1 race in the $494,300 Turnbull Stakes, a prep for the Group 1 Cox Plate on Oct. 25, a $3.95 million race she won in 2024.
The Turnbull drew a field of 14, with ramifications for the Cox Plate but also the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at two miles on Nov. 4. Via Sistina was 7-5 in early betting on Thursday, while Sir Delius, rated as a leading contender for the Melbourne Cup, was the 9-2 second choice.
Sir Delius, eighth in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris last October when trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, won the Group 1 Underwood Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne on Sept. 20, his most prestigious win in three starts in Australia. Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse train the British-bred Sir Delius.
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The Turnbull has such depth that Moira, who won the Eclipse Award as North America’s leading turf female, was 40-1 as of Thursday. She is winless in four starts since being sent to Australia.
Chris Waller trains Via Sistina and Moira.
Flemington has a 10-race program beginning at 10:25 p.m. Eastern. Earlier on the card, the Group 3 Bart Cummings Stakes at about 1 9/16 miles will mark the group stakes debut of expected favorite Gilded Water, owned by King Charles III of England. The winner of the $230,600 Bart Cummings receives an automatic berth to the Melbourne Cup.
Trained by Ciaron Maher, Gilded Water won a minor handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Caulfield on Sept. 20, his third win in five starts since being sent to Australia in the summer of 2024.
There will be support for Revelare, a 5-year-old gelding who has won 8 of 11 starts, the latest of which was the Group 3 Archer Stakes at 1 9/16 miles at Flemington on Sept. 13. The Archer win gave Revelare a berth in the Melbourne Cup.
The richest race in Australia this weekend is Friday’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. The undefeated filly Autumn Glow, who has won six races, will be a strong favorite against 13 rivals in a one-mile race worth $988,600.
Trained by Waller, Autumn Glow will start at a mile for the first time. She has won two group stakes for sprinters during the current Australian season, which began on Aug. 1.
In the race after the Epsom Handicap, the Group 1 Metropolitan Handicap at 1 1/2 miles will be a key start for several runners in the buildup to the Melbourne Cup. As of Monday, Changingoftheguard, Athabascan, and Birdman were 26th, 29th ,and 34th on the list of candidates for the Melbourne Cup, which will have a maximum of 24 runners. A win in the $494,300 Metropolitan Handicap, as well as a few defections in coming weeks, will help their chances.
Changingoftheguard has to beat the recent Group 3 stakes winners Soul of Spain and Birdman, who were 9-2 and 5-1 in early betting on Thursday. Changingoftheguard was the 8-1 third choice.
There are odds-on favorites in two other major stakes at Randwick – Apocalyptic in the Group 1 Flight Stakes at a mile for 3-year-old fillies, and Briasa in the Group 2 Premiere Stakes at six furlongs.
Apocalyptic is part of a field of 11 in the $494,300 Flight Stakes. She has won 2 of 3 starts, with the last two wins in Group 2 sprint races at six and seven furlongs.
Briasa, a winner of 7 of 11 starts, was second in the Group 2 The Shorts Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Randwick on Sept. 20. Briasa is part of a field of seven in the $659,100 Premiere Stakes.
As of Thursday, Briasa was the 7-1 second choice for the Group 1 Everest Stakes at six furlongs on Oct. 18. The race is the world’s richest sprint with a purse of $13 million.
The Everest Stakes is led by the Hong Kong star Ka Ying Rising, who was 4-5 as of Thursday.
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