Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Group 1)

VIA Sistina has matched Winx’s best tally by winning a seventh Group 1 in a racing season.

An even-money favourite in the Group 1 A$5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2,000 metres at Randwick, the Irish-bred Fastnet Rock mare was peerless.

Via Sistina catapulted away to a two-length win over the Irish-bred Pride Of Dubai gelding Dubai Honour, the winner of this race in 2023, with the Harry Angel gelding Tom Kitten third.

“We’ve got a great team, but she just shows the difference between a good horse and a champion,” said trainer Chris Waller of the northern hemisphere-bred six-year-old.

Great supporter

“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 (Via Sistina’s owners) are a great supporter of racing. They have brought a lot of money to Australia, which is great for the bloodstock economy, (Mr. Yuesheng Zhang) 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.”

At the top of the straight, Via Sistina’s task looked complicated, horses in front of her and unable to get to the outside as James McDonald had to rely on some guile to work into the clear.

“She was so superior. Once I got those gaps, she sliced through and went bang,” said McDonald, who has been onboard for six of her eight Group 1 wins in Australia. “Chris just trains her up beautifully every time, he did it for a Cox Plate, he’s done it again for the Queen Elizabeth,” said McDonald.

THE Matt Laurie-trained Treasurethe Moment completed her eighth straight win from only 11 career starts to capture the Group 2 Victoria Oaks/Australian Oaks double, the first filly to do so since Serenade Rose in 2006.

Sent out well into the red at $1.55 at Randwick on Saturday, Treasurethe Moment looked vulnerable 300 metres from home as an air of desperation crept into Damian Lane’s ride.

Hard ridden, the Alabama Express filly responded as Sun ‘N’ Sand threatened to cause a 50/1 boilover.

Fully extended, Treasurethe Moment’s star qualities rose to the top as she levelled up in the dying stages, her final three strides sending her to the front to win by a half-length over the Pride Of Dubai filly Sun ‘N’ Sand.

Third a further half-length away was the So You Think filly You Wahng, just ahead of the New Zealand Oaks winner Leica Lucy.

Respect

“I probably didn’t show the leader enough respect to be truthful,” said Damian Lane who copped a two-week suspension and $10,000 fine for overuse of the whip.

“She (Sun ‘N’ Sand) just got away on me a little bit and I really had to bottom her out to catch her. She’s a beauty. She’s just got that really good turn of foot and did what she had to.”

Three Group 1s

It’s been a whirlwind time for trainer Matt Laurie who has won a three Group 1s the past three weekends. Two with the Yulong homebred Treasurethe Moment and the other with the two-year-old colt Vinrock, by I Am Invincible, who Yulong have just completed a stud deal for.

“Incredible really, I feel like I am going to burst into tears,” said Laurie.

“I was pretty nervous about today. I mean, small fields can often be a bit kind of messy and it wasn’t the smoothest race to watch.”

A winner

“They walked a bit, she didn’t have much cover, she was on the wrong lead, they all came off the turn and she was under siege, but she is a winner. We had four races mapped out for her to win and to do it, is just amazing.

“She’s got an incredible heart, so it’s a great story.”

HAVING claimed the Doncaster Mile seven days earlier, the Bjorn Baker stable struck again at Randwick with Arapaho taking out the Group 1 Sydney Cup over 3,200 metres.

The win, which will frank a Melbourne Cup start in November, was empathic in its execution.

Having followed the pace of the leader and race favourite Alalcance, jockey Rachel King peeled off that horse’s heels on straightening and went for home.

By a widening margin, the French-bred Lope De Vega gelding won by three lengths to the Roaring Lion gelding Waltham with the same margin again to the third-placed Sea The Stars mare River Of Stars.

“I probably had as many doubts as everyone else about 3,200 metres, I wasn’t quite sure, but the one thing I always say to everyone is ‘I’ve never ridden a horse so honest’, he just tries,” said King after dismounting from the 20/1 chance.

Count to 10

“I was bolting, I had to count to 10 and just wait until I got to the top of the rise. He’s got an awesome turn of foot for a stayer.

“He went to sleep and credit to Bjorn and his team, they had him perfect, cherry ripe today, couldn’t have been any fitter and feeling any better.”

A three-year-old listed winner for Andre Fabre at Deauville in 2020, Saturday’s win elicited raw emotion post-race as one of Arapaho’s part-owners, 55-year-old Paul Griffin was killed on Melbourne Cup Day last year in a one-punch attack.

“So many of my great friends are in this horse,” said Baker.

“We lost one of the part-owners last year, Griffo, he’s a legend, he’s more of a a man than I’ll ever be, and what he did for Western Sydney and what he did for charities and what he did for rugby league, I’m never going to be able to replace that at all. He’s an absolute champ and just so much love to the family, we miss them.”

TAB Queen Of The Turf Stakes (Group 1)

THE Sebring mare Fangirl took out the final feature of the second day of The Championships at Randwick which saw trainer Chris Waller equal his own record for most Group 1 wins in a season at 18.

A dual acceptor of both the Queen Of The Turf and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Waller elected to bypass Via Sistina.

“We would have liked to have had a crack at the Queen Elizabeth, but Via Sistina was flying and I didn’t want to break her heart,” elaborated Waller on putting Fangirl up against her own sex over 1,600 metres.

“There’s so many great stories with any winner on the racetrack, but the Group 1s on big days like today, it really is special. So, I don’t know where to start.

“Fangirl won her first race in Goulburn during Covid, if I remember and she’s come a long way. Each preparation, she just stands up and she’s counted.”

The six-year-old, foaled and raised at Coolmore, races in the Ingham family’s famed cerise. With her fourth Group 1 win, she pushes her earnings beyond A$10 million.

Masterclass

The victory was also a riding masterclass from James McDonald. Near last on the bend with Fangirl, he pounced on a gap that saw him switch inside runners and open up a saloon passage to the line.

Powerful over the closing stages, the $1.60 favourite defeated last week’s Doncaster winner Steffi Magnetica with her Waller stablemate, Aitshu, by Savabeel in third.

“I was just going to have to pray that it would open up,” said McDonald on the run. “Sometimes when you just let it happen before trying to make it happen, it can be in your favour. I actually went out there with the mindset, she was a 10-to-1 chance, and rode her like that.”

Quick-witted patrons would have recognised a classic ‘omen bet’ with Allen duly delivering as Through Irish Eyes won by three lengths at a generous $14.

THE jumps’ racing season is underway in Victoria with Sunday’s MJ Bourke Hurdle at Pakenham the highlight as Tommy Ryan and The Cunning Fox downed the seasoned performer Stern Idol with Steven Pateman up.

Trained by Patrick and Michelle Payne in partnership, the win sees The Cunning Fox remain unbeaten in his four hurdle starts with his early target being the Galleywood Hurdle at Warrnambool on April 30th.