Champion jockey James McDonald has claimed his third consecutive Cox Plate with a record-breaking victory aboard Via Sistina at Moonee Valley.
It was McDonald’s 100th Group 1 triumph and follows his wins on Romantic Warrior and Anamoe in Australasia’s weight-for-age championship over the past two years.
Chris Waller-trained Via Sistina smashed Winx’s 2017 track record for the 2040-metre test by almost two seconds on Saturday, and won by a record eight lengths from Japanese raider and pre-race favourite Prognosis.
“She won like Winx … it was just a phenomenal performance,” McDonald told the Seven Network.
Godolphin three-year-old Broadsiding was third and Mr Brightside fourth for the Hayes brothers, while front-running fan favourite Pride Of Jenni led mid-race but was chased down after a tough run a week earlier in Sydney.
The stunning result came after Via Sistina was in serious doubt to start in the $5 million feature following a scary incident on Tuesday, when the seven-year-old mare threw McDonald during trackwork.
“I thought our hopes were doomed,” McDonald said.
“There was a fantastic picture there when I popped myself up and looked and watched her gallop away.
“If looks could tell a story … we were stuffed.”
New Zealand-born McDonald, 32, is the fifth and youngest jockey to reach a century of Group 1 wins in Australia, the milestone making his latest Cox Plate triumph all the more special.
“There was more pressure. The other two were well-fancied, but they’re very easy horses to ride,” McDonald said.
“This one, she’s not easy. Things needed to go our way and probably the momentum of this 100 has been quite heavy.
“Each week everyone’s been gunning for me and I haven’t been able to get the job done.
“To do it in a Cox Plate, I couldn’t even imagine it. It’s pretty surreal.”
McDonald is the third jockey to register at least three consecutive Cox Plate wins – after Hugh Bowman (2015-2018) and Brent Thomson (1977-79) – and the second to do it on three different horses.
Champion trainer Waller joined the legendary Bart Cummings in equal-third on the honours list with his fifth Cox Plate win and was reduced to tears after the race.
Waller, who previously combined with Bowman for four in a row with super mare Winx, had to drastically alter his preparation plan for Via Sistina after the trackwork mishap.
“Forget what happened Tuesday, she’s a good horse and (it was) my job to prove it,” Waller told Seven.
“The truth is when she got up and James got up, the rest of it didn’t (matter). The horse and James equally are just so important.
“The Cox Plate’s on every year, so if she didn’t make it, who cares? She’s alive and James is alive.”
Via Sistina’s win was so dominant that McDonald stood in the irons well before the line, and received a $2000 fine for his celebration.
Damian Lane, who steered 2019 Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux to victory, gave Prognosis every chance to follow in his fellow Japanese raider’s footsteps.
“He was very honest, you couldn’t have asked much more,” Lane said.
“He stepped away well and travelled great throughout the run.
“I was confident coming down the side I was going to be a winning chance but Via Sistina was just in another class. She was way too good.”
Jamie Kah tipped Broadsiding to do what fellow James Cummings-trained Group 1 winner Anamoe did in 2022, snaring the Cox Plate after placing the previous year.
“He really surprised me at how much of a big baby he is still,” Kah said.
“He spat the bit out at the 800 (metre mark) and Docklands bumped him out the way and I thought we were done, but he picked up and found the line fantastic.
“I’d say he’s an Anamoe – next year he’ll win the Cox Plate – he’s still a year away.”
Earlier, Kah was left searching for a new ride in the Melbourne Cup after connections of Point King notified stewards the Irish import would not be in the field when third acceptances are taken on Monday.
Point King had been among the leading contenders for the race that stops a nation on November 5.
