Chris Waller will give Via Sistina every chance to play her part in this Saturday’s $5 million Cox Plate, despite a trackwork mishap at Tuesday morning’s Breakfast With The Best session.
The last-start Turnbull Stakes winner tossed rider James Mcdonald and then galloped multiple laps of the Moonee Valley circuit riderless after a bandage came loose, which caused part of McDonald’s gear to snap 150m from the line in her gallop.
Waller initially feared the worst but was left amazed at how well the five-year-old came through the taxing workout and is prepared to wait until Saturday morning’s scratching deadline to make a call on whether she starts in the 2040-metre Group 1.
“I would say so, but we’ll obviously use right up until Saturday morning to make that decision,” Waller said, around 45 minutes after the incident, when asked if she would take her place.
“She’s had a more than expected workout this morning, but in terms of how she is, she’s recovered really well.
“She’s had a tough day at the office, or on the training track, and the key now is this afternoon to just have a nice, easy time.
“She’d normally be having a quiet gallop Thursday – that’ll be abandoned, it’s not required – so she’ll just have very light cantering in the park-type work, a trip to the beach, just let her be a horse, nice picks of grass and just let her chill out.
“It’s not ideal, but we’ve still got a horse.”
McDonald was uninjured in the fall and resumed trackwork commitments later in the session.
Waller was quick to draw an optimistic bow on the incident, casting his mind back 15 years to a similar Breakfast With The Best incident with Rangirangdoo.
“He was getting ready to run in a Cox Plate and an almost-identical thing happened,” Waller recalled.
“We got scared, we didn’t run in the Cox Plate and he came out and won the Crystal Mile the same day and broke the track record.
“Hopefully we can do something special on Saturday similar to that.”
Via Sistina was one of nine acceptors for this year’s Cox Plate and is $4.80 third favourite after drawing barrier four.
To her immediate right at the start will be Japanese star and favourite Prognosis, local cult figure Pride Of Jenni drew gate seven, gun three-year-old Broadsiding the outside alley and last year’s narrow runner-up Mr Brightside barrier two.
