Latest news with #MakybeDiva
New Paper
21-07-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Via Sistina all tuned up as Spring campaign nears
SYDNEY Champion trainer Chris Waller said Via Sistina could follow a similar programme to last spring's, which saw the top mare land four Group 1 victories - the Winx Stakes (1,400m), the Turnbull Stakes (2,000m), the Cox Plate (2,040m) and the Champions Stakes (2,000m). The 2024-25 Australian Horse of the Year will make her first public appearance on the morning of July 22 when she steps out in the opening heat of 17 trials at Randwick. The 850m trial on the Kensington track has brought together a field of eight, which includes Via Sistina's stablemate and Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1,600m) winner Fangirl, as well as two other Group 1 winners - Tom Kitten and Zardozi - trained by James Cummings. Waller is planning on having Via Sistina - the victor of the 2024 Winx Stakes - defend her title first-up in the Winx Stakes at Randwick on Aug 23. He will then look at bringing the Fastnet Rock seven-year-old to Melbourne to run in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1,600m) at Flemington on Sept 13. Second-up at her Spring campaign in 2024, Via Sistina ran fifth to Mr Brightside in the Makybe Diva on Sept 14, but she followed up with a consecutive Group 1-winning spree at her next three starts in Melbourne; taking out the Turnbull Stakes, the Cox Plate and the Champion Stakes. The mare then raced exclusively in Sydney during the autumn, collecting three more Group 1 successes: the Verry Elleegant Stakes (1,600m) on March 1, the Ranvet Stakes (2,000m) on March 22 and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,000m) at her last run on April 12. Waller said he would discuss the options with Via Sistina's owners, Yulong Investments, as to what plans they have for the nine-time Group 1 winner - who ran in Ireland and UK before kicking off her career in Australia in 2024 - and potentially avoid any clashes with their other horses. "She has come back well. She has come back stronger than she has been," said Waller. "I don't think it makes them run faster, but she has adapted to Australia. She has been here 18 months now and it takes that long for mares to adjust. "From a health perspective, she's great." Waller said the Makybe Diva Stakes may suit a number of his horses, including Via Sistina and Fangirl. "The Makybe Diva might suit Via Sistina, and then maybe the Turnbull, so it (Winx Stakes) could be her only run in Sydney," Waller said. "But I won't rule out that she won't stay here either. "Obviously, I've got to speak to the owners and see what other horses they've got. They might have their other good mare (Treasurethe Moment) going towards the Makybe Diva and they might not want her there, so we'll have to see. "Fangirl, she could even go to the Makybe Diva as well second-up and then come back for the King Charles. "That's probably her first grand final. She is more of a miler, but she has come back well." The Sebring six-year-old mare has also been earmarked for a first-up run in the Winx Stakes that she won in 2023. The Turnbull Stakes will be at Flemington on Oct 4, while the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1,600m) will be run at The Everest meeting at Randwick on Oct 18. Waller would not be asking a lot of Via Sistina and Fangirl on July 22. "They're stablemates, they live next to each other, and they will probably finish out the back next to each other on Tuesday," he said. SKY RACING WORLD
News.com.au
17-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Former star apprentice Vincent Hall chasing maiden Flemington winner with recent recruit Dubai Watch
Successful jockey turned trainer Vincent Hall says racing has been good to him but the game could produce another high for him at Flemington on Saturday. Hall steered home more than 400 winners in a riding career that included winning the Melbourne apprentices' title and riding the great Makybe Diva to her first three Australian wins when his uncle David trained the mare before leaving for Hong Kong. Makybe Diva went on to win three Melbourne Cups for the Lee Freedman stable while increasing weight forced Hall to retire from race riding in 2006. Hall subsequently headed west to work in the mines but racing has been in his family for generations as his uncle Greg and cousin Nick were champion flat jockeys while his father Ron was a star jumps rider. Training is also in Hall's blood as previous generations of his family were successful trainers. 'I did seven years on the mines in WA and, after that length of time over there, I just got sick of it,' Hall said. 'I started a two-week on, one-week on roster, and I started riding work for my good mate Nick Ryan on my weeks off and got the bug back. 'I rode work for a while then started doing pre-training on the side and decided to get my trainer's licence.' Hall has started well, winning seven races from 42 starters, but could notch his biggest win to date with Dubai Watch in the VRC Member Gerald Jongebloed Trophy (1700m). Dubai Watch has finished strongly to win his last two starts to earn a crack at Saturday's $150,000 race. 'He was a bit quirky when he got to us,' Hall said. 'He was a bit funny with his head and did a few things wrong but his trackrider, my fiancee Briar Stobie, has straightened him out and he's more tractable. 'All his three runs for me have been very good. He's just bounced out of the gates, relaxed and his last half has been the best. 'Something has just clicked and he's been a lucky pick-up for us.' The Mornington-based Hall said a lack of suitable options elsewhere prompted him to have a crack at a Flemington race, adding Dubai Watch would be suited racing against his own age after beating older horses at his last two runs. Irrespective of the result of Saturday's Flemington contest, Hall said the aim was to add a few more horses to the seven-strong team he and Stobie prepared. 'I love game and it has been good to me,' Hall said. 'It's pretty tough. I wouldn't say it's an easy game but I'm enjoying it and we're slowly building up. 'Things are going in the right direction, I think.'
