Cox Plate winner Via Sistina to miss Melbourne Cup

By Sporting Life

15:01 · THU October 31, 2024

Via Sistina will miss the Lexus Melbourne Cup on Tuesday with connections opting for an alternative target.

Formerly with George Boughey, the six-year-old ran out a sparkling winner of the Ladbrokes Cox Plate at the weekend and to shoot towards the head of the market for the Flemington showpiece.

However it's the ten-furlong Champion Stakes on Saturday week that's the aim for Chris Waller's charge.

“We would desperately love to win a Melbourne Cup and we’ve probably got the best chance we’re ever going to have,” said Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox.

“But at the end of the day, the ultimate goal wasn’t the Melbourne Cup, it was the Cox Plate. The Melbourne Cup was then a bit of an afterthought, rather than the primary motivator and afterthoughts tend not to end well on a racetrack.

“We all had to get our feet back on the ground, take all the emotion out of it and look at it analytically.”

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