So there you have it, the 2021 Melbourne Cup winning jockey for Verry Elleegant, James McDonald has been simply too good to pull off towards the winning post for Chris Waller’s Via Sistina as your 2024 Stakes Day winner at Flemington.
Yes, it was a close one when approaching the home front with 11 horses vying for that top spot before you just couldn’t see this coming where Via Sistina just wrapped up this race right on this spot ahead of everyone with 200m to go.
Don’t forget he just managed to wrap up on a high during that next & final race of the Stakes Day & Melbourne Cup Carnival program thanks to his close win for Pisanello over Trapeze Warrior under James Cummings when there were some pre-gate drama with 1-2 other horses had to be scratched out before race start.
Not only it was a outstanding day for McDonald with a career best 11 wins now in this Melbourne Cup Carnival, but also a phenomenal Saturday afternoon for trainer Chris Waller, who saw another of his trained horses finish 2nd in today’s headline Stakes Day race, with Japan’s Atishu by jockey Jye McNeil.
Then you’ve got last year’s Melbourne Cup winning horse Without a Fight in 3rd by jockey Mark Zahra as well as the Freedman brothers duo of both Anthony and Sam (co-trainers), and finally you got Ciaron Maher’s Future History after Dylan Browne McMongale steered home in 4th.
So at the conclusion of Stakes Day Saturday, that’s all we’ve had time for in this year’s week-long Melbourne Cup Carnival for 2024. We still got to see some amazing moments both on and off the racecourse including the glitz and glamour as well as a change of hands by Nine Network as their new broadcaster for the first time in history. Sure the Victorian Racing Club will continue to produce such an iconic event that everyone can enjoy every year as no doubt we will be back to witness yet another edition of Melbourne Cup racing that stops the nation in 2025.