Waller is confident in Sistina’s call

Chris Waller has no fear of losing to Cox Plate champion Via Sistina when she lines up for Saturday’s $3 million Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.

A thrilling performance at The Valley initially left the head trainer with admiration and skepticism about her next race start, but he said signs around the stable following her world-leading performance suggested his mare had suffered no ill effects from the performance. .

“She took it to the next level in terms of track record in the Valley in such a time-tested race and I thought it might have been costly, but it wasn’t, and the words of those in the stables from People That Matter, they think she’s even feeling better,” he explained.

“I wouldn’t say she’s fallen behind, I wouldn’t say she’s improved, but if she can hold on, the team tells me she’s ready to put in another great performance on Saturday.”

Anamoe was the last Cox Plate winner to go on to next start the Champions Stakes, finishing fourth in 2022 as favorite when the race first became known by that name after previously being run as the Mackinnon Stakes.

Via Sistina will jump the fourth fence with James MacDonald aboard and is the $1.65 favorite in the 12-horse field.

Many racing fans had hoped Via Sistina would take her place in last Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, but while Waller said it was being seriously considered, he felt it was not the best move for the prized mare, who had only added to her 2.7 million guineas. price tag from the end of last year.

“We were very close to escaping and very tempted,” Waller admitted.

“But there were so many aspects that suggested we shouldn’t be doing this and we had to draw the line somewhere, and there were a lot of negatives.

“Assuming she went to the highest-rated horse in the world over 2,000 metres, how dare we expect her to go over 3,200 metres?

“She’ll probably run 2400m, she’ll probably run 3000m, but it’s the last 200m that counts in the Melbourne Cup.

“We made a difficult decision, but I had the full support of every person on the team.”

Waller is also providing the horse the market believes poses the biggest threat to her: G McNeil is called up to ride last Saturday’s Empire Rose winner Atisha, who won the Champions Stakes last year, as part of the seven-day reserve.

“Atisha has a great seven-day backup experience and we planned for them to be a little short-handed going into her first run,” Waller said of the preparation.

“She won that race in the last few strides of (Empire Rose), which was exciting to watch and she came out of it very well and had a few days on the beach.

“We are confident she will be able to back up well and race accordingly on Saturday.”

Atishu was tagged $8 second favorite in a race that includes the return of last year’s Cups Without A Fight champion and Caulfield Cup winner Duke De Sesse.