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The opening Group 1 of the spring lights up Royal Randwick on Saturday with a star-studded line-up of resuming champions taking to the track in the 2025 Winx Stakes field including Chris Waller‘s reigning Ladbrokes Cox Plate hero Via Sistina.
Via Sistina is short-priced favourite at $2.70 through Ladbrokes.com.au to kick off her latest season with a win in the Group 1 $1 million Winx Stakes (1400m) with the brilliant eight-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock making her way towards a highly anticipated Cox Plate title defence on October 25.
A Randwick and first-up specialist, the $12.8 million earner was last seen winning the Queen Elizabeth Stakes here on April 12 which was her ninth elite level title.
The bookies are taking zero chances with this weight-for-age champion who looks a huge chance to kick off where she left off and take her Group 1 tally into double-figures.
Via Sistina won last year’s Winx Stakes fresh in a very close affair and, if successful again on Saturday, she’ll become the event’s first back-to-back winner since the three-peat of the stable’s legendary mare Winx (2016-18).
She is the best horse in the race but has been vulnerable first-up before when beaten home running third in February’s Group 2 Apollo Stakes at this track and trip.
The likely Heavy rated track is also a potential concern as her only other go on similar conditions produced a disappointing fifth when nearly seven lengths behind Mr Brightside in Flemington’s Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) following her Winx Stakes win last year.
Historically she is out to be the first eight-year-old mare in 80 years to win a Group 1, but if the track stays in its current range she might not get the chance with Waller keeping the option open to scratch and save her for Saturday week’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
Master horseman Waller boasts a formidable record in the event formerly known as the Warwick Stakes having won eight previous editions including the past two on the trot.
Last year he prepared the Winx Stakes trifecta with Via Sistina beating home stablemates Zougotcha and Fangirl with the latter having won the race in 2023.
The super consistent Fangirl is also in the mix again this weekend with the seven-year-old daughter of Sebring considered one of the main dangers.
She is at her pet track and trip with a 50% winning strike rate over the 1400m at Randwick from eight starts to date and races for the first time since saluting as the odds-on favourite in the Group Queen Of The Turf Stakes over the mile here during ‘The Championships’.
Fangirl is one of the best fresh performers in the mix, proven by her Apollo triumph over Via Sistina in the autumn, but is another with a question mark over her head when it comes to a potential bottomless track.
The other major player in Winx Stakes betting 2025 is the returning Ciaron Maher trained Gringotts who beat Fangirl home by the barest of margins in the Group 1 George Ryder back in March.
Gringotts is at $6 in the latest Winx Stakes odds trailing only Via and Fangirl ($5), and there’s plenty to like about this Per Incanto six-year-old.
His last start Doncaster performance can be forgotten. He may have run 11th, but he was still under two lengths off the winner in a genuine blanket finish.
Gringotts has trialled well in the meantime including a recent Gosford 1000m winning hit-out on a Heavy (8), he has a past Winx Stakes winning hoop with Berry in the saddle and is one tipped to handle the going.
Aeliana at $8 meanwhile is the other single-figure Winx Stakes contender at time of publish with plenty of fans waiting to see what this now four-year-old does.
She was enormous during her three-year-old campaign running very well at the highest level against the boys the whole time before capping things off with a barnstorming five length romp home in the Group 1 ATC Derby (2400m).
No doubting she’ll be competitive again as a mare this time in with improvement on whatever she does fresh on Saturday pending over further as she heads towards the longer distanced majors.
Lindermann ($35) drawn the far outside barrier and US import Full Count Felicia ($35) complete the Waller runners in the mix.
Maher meanwhile saddles-up not only Gringotts but also his resuming Australian Cup champion Light Infantry Man ($19).
Bjorn Baker then has three final acceptors including last start winners Robusto ($15) and War Eternal ($23) who claimed the Winter Challenge and Spring Preview respectively, while his returning Sydney Cup champ Arapaho ($26) is first-up over short of his best but one who will relish the Heavy going.
The 2025 Winx Stakes is scheduled to run as Randwick Race 8 at 3:50pm (AEST) on Saturday’s 10-race card.
| 9. Via Sistina (1) J: James McDonald57kg 3111xT: Chris Waller | ||
| 12. Aeliana (2) J: Jason Collett56.5kg 3421xT: Chris Waller | ||
| 4. Arapaho (4) J: Rachel King59kg 5241xT: Bjorn Baker | ||
| 2. Ceolwulf (7) J: Chad Schofield59kg 5315xT: Joseph Pride | ||
| 3. Gringotts (9) J: Tommy Berry59kg x310xT: Ciaron Maher | ||
| 7. War Eternal (5) J: Dylan Gibbons59kg 5x821T: Bjorn Baker | ||
| 6. Robusto (8) J: Josh Parr59kg 2x021T: Bjorn Baker | ||
| 11. Full Count Felicia (10) J: Adam Hyeronimus57kg 17x4xT: Chris Waller | ||
| 8. Diamond Diesel (3) J: Andrew Adkins59kg 00926T: Adam Duggan | ||
| 5. Lindermann (11) J: Nash Rawiller59kg 2490xT: Chris Waller | ||
| 1. Light Infantry Man (6) J: Ethan Brown59kg 6310xT: Ciaron Maher |
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