Champion Sydney trainer Chris Waller, jockey James McDonald and their superstar mare Via Sistina collected the trifecta of top gongs at the prestigious Australian Racehorse of the Year awards in Brisbane on Sunday.
Via Sistina won seven Group 1 races during a record-breaking 2024-25 season to claim the crown as Australian Racehorse of the Year at the Star Casino on Sunday.
The eight-year-old mare looks set to dominate weight-for-age racing again this season after her superb first-up win in the recent Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
Waller clinched his 13th straight Champion Group 1 Trainer award while superstar jockey James McDonald, who racked up 15 Group 1s for the 2024-25 season, took out the title of Champion Group 1 Jockey for the fifth straight year.
Via Sistina was the headline act during the 2024-25 season, with her seven Group 1 wins equalling the record set by the legendary Winx in 2018-19.
The Yulong super mare claimed a resounding 202 votes out of a possible 204 to stamp her authority as Australia’s champion horse.
To illustrate the dominance of the Chris Waller-trained Via Sistina, The Everest sensation Bella Nipotina picked up 75 votes and last Saturday’s Memsie Stakes winner Treasurethe Moment jagged 43 votes in the 3-2-1 voting process.
Via Sistina also took out the coveted Australian Champion Middle Distance category after McDonald steered her to emphatic victories in the Cox Plate, the Champions Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in the autumn.
The Waller-trained mare polled a commanding 203 votes in the middle-distance category, streets ahead of the popular Mr Brightside (79 votes) and Doomben Cup winner Antino (58).
Originally published as Super mare Via Sistina crowned Australian Horse of the Year following a stellar 2024/25 racing season