Via Sistina won the 2024 Cox Plate by eight lengths, beating Japanese raiders Prognosis and Broadsiding

Via Sistina won the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley with a dominant performance, making an incredible comeback after a midweek on-track accident nearly ruled her out of the race.

Jockey James McDonald rode Via Sistina through the middle of the pack and moved towards the corner to overtake Japanese horse Prognosis before racing to win the Australasian weight-for-age championship.

The Chris Waller-trained Via Sistina won by an equal record eight lengths from Prognosis and Broadsiding.

The seven-year-old filly broke Winx’s Moonee Valley record in the 2017 Cox Plate, stopping the clock in 2 minutes 1.07 seconds; this was 1.87 seconds faster than the four-time Cox Plate winner.

In an emotional speech after the race, Waller expressed concern that Via Sistina nearly collapsed during track work on Tuesday.

The horse was nearly out of the race when McDonald hit the ground hard, leaving the horse to run around the track without a rider for two or three laps.

However, after being checked by vets, Via Sistina was cleared to race and she went on to score one of the Cox Plate’s spectacular wins.

The Ciaron Maher-trained Jenni’s Pride was expected to lead from the start, but instead Royal Patronage became the early pacesetter before the former took the lead on the back straight.

Race favorite Prognosis raced to be just behind Pride of Jenni and the pair looked set for the challenge, but McDonald made his move to make a three-way move approaching the turn before Pride of Jenni began to fade away.

The forecast was ahead, but it didn’t take long for Via Sistina to race ahead to take the lead. The finishing straight at Moonee Valley is only 173 meters long, but Via Sistina turned the race into a rite of passage over this short distance; McDonald was able to wave to the crowd and stand on the chains well before the line.

“The truth is when it (Via Sistina) got up and James got up I didn’t care about the rest,” he told Channel Seven.

“If he doesn’t make it (to the Cox Plate), who cares? He’s alive and James is alive.”

The victory gave McDonald his third consecutive victory in the major race, following Romantic Warrior and Anamoe in the last two years, and also marked the Australian jockey’s 100th Group 1 victory.

“I had a very decent performance in the first half,” McDonald told Channel Seven after the race.

“So I thought I’d take it out, keep it smooth, blend it, and she loved it. She won it like the Winx. She blended it, and then yeah, she did a phenomenal performance.”

McDonald admitted that he thought the rail incident was the end-all be-all for Via Sistina until the Cox Plate.

“I thought our hopes were gone,” he said.

“I think it was a great picture when I looked up and watched him gallop, and I think if looks can tell a story, we were packed.”