“There’s a lot to consider”: The options in front of Cox Plate champion Via Sistina

Where to next for Via Sistina?

The Yulong Investments mare, trained by Chris Waller and ridden by James McDonald, blitzed her rivals in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Via Sistina won by a Cox Plate record of eight lengths and in the process completely annihilated Winx’s track record by close to two seconds.

Owner Yuesheng Zhang would of course like to win a Melbourne Cup (3200m) but Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox says a decision is yet to be made.

“Mr Zhang would love to win a Melbourne Cup, whether it’s with Via Sistina or something else,” Cox said on SENTrack’s Giddy Up.

“We’ll let that play out in the next few days. It’s exciting to have a horse that may be able to line up, but there’s a little bit to play out.

“We won’t commit to it just yet.”

On the back of her remarkable Cox Plate triumph, Via Sistina is currently the Melbourne Cup favourite but that will not force a decision from the owner and the Waller stable.

Cox says there are other options including a spell, the Champions Stakes (2000m) on the final day of the Flemington Carnival and even a potential trip to Hong Kong.

“Probably the biggest discussion is whether we just go to the paddock and put her away for next year,” Cox added.

“You can go to the well one too many times, so whether we put her away or is the Champions Stakes an option? Is the (Melbourne) Cup an option? Is Hong Kong an option?

“There’s a lot to consider. You don’t just want to think about what’s on tomorrow, but longer term perhaps as well, what could be there for next season.

“We’re not going to commit to anything too much. We’ll just see what happens.

“It’s an exciting problem to have, it’s a rare one indeed. To consider any one of those races is exciting.”

Having already claimed a Melbourne Cup aboard Verry Elleegant in 2021, McDonald feels the race that stops a nation is the perfect next event for Via Sistina.

“The big unknown factor is will she run 3200m? I think she will run 3200,” McDonald said on SEN’s Whateley.

“She’s by Fastnet Rock, which aren’t renowned stayers, but she’s out of a Galileo mare and it just feels like this mare would run all day.

“She ran a track record in a Cox Plate which is as good a form as you can get, I made a sustained run of 800m and she just loved every minute of it, and she’s in the greatest form of her life.

“Mares in form tend to hold it and I think it would be a good race for her.

“I’d love to see her there, I think she’d be as good a chance as any.”

McDonald added: “I think it (the decision) will get made in the next 24 hours.”

Since arriving in Australia in March, Via Sistina has raced six times for four Group 1 wins and now has five Group 1s to her name from 19 career starts.

Sportsbet currently has her as the $4.50 favourite for the Melbourne Cup on November 5 and the $2 favourite for the Champions Stakes on November 9.

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