Twelve months after making her Australian debut with an outstanding Ranvet Stakes win, Via Sistina has returned to Rosehill to land back-to-back victories in the middle-distance feature.
In between she has racked up another five majors, including in last year’s Cox Plate, stamping herself as one of the best horses in training.
If Chris Waller was unsure exactly what calibre of mare he had inherited this time last year, he is in no doubt now.
“She has lit up our lives,” Waller said.
“Twelve months ago today we didn’t know what we had coming out of quarantine. Obviously, we had a good article and a good horse to work with and a very supportive team with Yulong. They rarely make a mistake in Australian racing.
“She is a star. She is an unassuming horse but come race day she really turns it on.
“You can win Group One races here and there but good horses win them all the time and they’re hard to find.”
With former American mare Full Count Felicia making the running, Via Sistina ($1.22 betting fav) settled midfield for James Mcdonald before easing around the heels of the leaders rounding the turn.
She chased down barn mate Lindermann ($11) to score comfortably by 1-1/2 lengths with Fawkner Park ($15) another half-length away third.
Waller confirmed Via Sistina would head straight to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick in three weeks where she has unfinished business after her second to runaway winner Pride Of Jenni last year.
The champion trainer felt Saturday’s Ranvet effort would lay the ideal foundation for her next start and expected her to improve further.
“It was perfect,” he said.
“She had an economical run throughout. She was travelling well enough to angle out on the turn, just went through her gears nicely and when the pressure comes into a race, that’s when she knows how to perform,” he said.
“I thought she might have actually got away from us a little bit today so I think there is improvement to come.”
Waller was also proud of Lindermann’s effort to back-up from what he described as a “flat run” last week in the Sky High Stakes (2000m) and said Full Count Felicia would improve from what was a tough local debut.
