The Curtain Falls On Flemington - But the Stories Keep Building

The Flemington Carnival closed in fitting style, with Champions Day delivering another showcase of class and great racing theatre.

In this edition, we review the top-rated winners from Flemington and Rosehill, revisit Strictly Business’s standout VRC Oaks win and Half Yours’ Melbourne Cup triumph with a look ahead to what’s next, and spotlight a Kiwi filly whose early-career ratings hint at serious autumn potential in Australia.

—Daniel O’Sullivan & The Inside Running Team

👑 Via Sistina 105.8 - Completed the Cox Plate–Champions Stakes double for the second straight year, dominating by 2.7L over Zambardo (101.6). 105.8 is just under a length better than her Cox Plate win, but about a length off her 107.5 from this race last year and the QE in the autumn. Now 11 G1 wins from 15 starts in Australia over the past 19 months.

⚡ Giga Kick 102 - Added another chapter to his impressive comeback story with a win in the G1 Champions Sprint. He’s now two from two this preparation and, while still a couple of lengths below his career peaks of 105.5 to 106.7, it was another strong performance that reinforced he still has plenty to offer at this level.

🐺 Ceolwulf 102 - claimed the G1 Champions Mile in a fast run 1600m on Heavy ground, with Pride Of Jenni setting a relentless tempo - over eight lengths faster to the 800m mark than in her Empire Rose win the week prior. Ceolwulf rated 102, down from his 103.3 in the G1 King Charles, where he was far more dominant. On a day when persistent rain made the clock an unreliable guide, the overall time was fast but not elite relative to the early speed. Many rivals underperformed due to the conditions and/or the demanding pace, including Pride Of Jenni, Treasurethe Moment, and Mr Brightside, leaving runner-up Pericles as the key reference point alongside the best guide we can draw from the clock. He’s been in career-best form this preparation with ratings of 101, 101.3, and 99.7, and here lifted again to 101.8 — a new career peak at start 30. Taking that into account, and with speed measures on the day not standing out (albeit with limited reliability), it’s hard to justify rating the race any higher.

💎 Vivy Air 99 - Added merit to the Big Dance form won by Gringotts (102.3) on Tuesday by taking out the Five Diamonds. Aided by a terrific ride to come from the rear up the inside and not go around a horse, she ran the best rating Last 800m, 600m and 400m of the meeting. Improved from her previous best rating of 96.8.

☀ Sunset Park 99 - Relished the testing conditions to lead all the way and comfortably beat the very much in-form She's A Hustler. Time will tell if she can establish herself at this level with a confirmation rating.

*Ratings are normalised to weight-for-age for each horse.

The VRC Oaks may have unearthed an elite staying talent for the future.

Strictly Business produced the highest-rated VRC Oaks win in at least 10 years with a 102 📊 WFA Performance Rating.

She edged past Zardozi’s 101.5 in 2023 — but the way she did it hints at even higher potential. It was a fast-run, genuinely strong staying test over 2500m. She won in fast overall time and still closed +2.7L faster than the TopRate standard over the final 200m. That’s rare at any stage, let alone at start number four.

She showed speed, acceleration, stamina and late strength — a rare mix that hints at elite staying potential for the future.

A lot has to go right for a horse to realise that potential, but we should be excited about what she could do in the future

Half Yours ran to a 104.3 📊 WFA Performance Rating in his dominant 2.75 length Melbourne Cup win last Tuesday, the equal third-largest margin in the past 30 years alongside Americain (2010). Only Protectionist (2014) and Verry Elleegant (2021) have won by more (4 lengths). That rating is normalised to weight-for-age, and equates to a performance of 109.5 if we don’t adjust for weight and assess him at his 53kg carried.

That figure comfortably surpasses Knight’s Choice (105.9 in 2024) and Gold Trip (107.6 in 2022) and sits just 0.6 lengths below Without A Fight’s 110.4 at the weights in 2023.

Running to a 104 plus level at weight-for-age makes a race like the 2400m G1 WFA Tancred Stakes in the autumn at Rosehill a realistic goal.

When asked about Half Yours’ future plans, Tony McEvoy hinted to Racenet that the Japan Cup could be an option — but it was his mention of The Gold Cup at Royal Ascot that really caught our attention.

The Gold Cup is the oldest and one of the most prestigious races at Royal Ascot, run over a gruelling two and a half miles (4023m) and attracting Europe’s elite stayers.

On pedigree, Half Yours certainly profiles as a horse who could stay that trip, and based on his 104.3 Melbourne Cup rating, it’s not an unrealistic long-term target. The Gold Cup typically requires performances in the 105.5 to 108 range to win over the past ten years.

While each incremental rating point at that level becomes increasingly difficult to achieve, Half Yours is at least in the ballpark — and with only 15 starts, further improvement isn’t out of the question, particularly if he relishes distances beyond 3200m.

Well Written has exploded onto the scene in New Zealand over the past six weeks. She easily won her maiden on debut, then bolted in the G2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) by 6.8 lengths, before backing up with a dominant 2.5 length win in the G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).

Her versatility has been on display across very different race shapes. In the Soliloquy, she sat close to a hot pace and ran very fast overall time; in the Guineas, she adapted to a slow early tempo and produced electric closing sectionals.

She ran a 99.5📊 WFA Performance Rating in the 1000 Guineas, just below her 100.5 from the Soliloquy, a small variance that’s typical when races become sprint-home affairs rather than true tests over the entire distance. For a filly to run 100.5 and 99.5 within her first three starts is exceptionally rare.

Legarto set the recent benchmark for this race, winning by 4.8 lengths with a 101.5 rating in 2022 before coming to Australia to claim the G1 Australian Guineas the following autumn. Well Written’s figure sits notably higher than other recent winners, who have typically rated between 94.5 and 96.5.

Among three-year-old fillies in Australia, only Tempted (103.6 & 104) and My Gladiola (101 & 101) - second in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes - are rated higher, though both are sprinting types and more exposed in terms of number of starts.

It would be highly unusual for a filly with this type of early rating profile to have reached her ceiling already. Assuming she stays sound, she looks set for further peaks - a very exciting prospect heading towards the Karaka Millions and $3.5 m NZB Kiwi Slot Race (March 2026), and potentially an Australian campaign next autumn against our best.

Which Bart Cummings trained three-year-old took the 1973 Spring Carnival by storm, winning the:

*Answer at the bottom

Saturday, 15th November

➡ Caulfield | Group 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes 1200M
➡ Caulfield | Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes 1400M
➡ Caulfield | Group 3 How Now Stakes 1200M
➡ Caulfield | Group 2 Sandown Guineas 1600M
➡ Caulfield | Listed Village Stakes 1100M
➡ Caulfield | Group 3 Summoned Stakes 1600M

➡ Newcastle | Group 3 3YO SPRING STAKES 1600M
➡ Newcastle | Listed THE BEAUFORD 2300M
➡ Newcastle | Group 2 THE HUNTER 1300M

➡ Doomben | Listed KEITH NOUD 1200M

➡ Ascot | Group 3 COLONEL REEVES STAKES 1100M
➡ Ascot | Listed JUNGLE MIST CLASSIC 1200M
➡ Ascot | Listed PLACID ARK STAKES 1200M
➡ Ascot | Group 3 R.J. PETERS STAKES 1500M
➡ Ascot | Group 3 W.A. CHAMPION FILLIES STAKES 1600M

Taj Rossi (pictured above on the outside beating Leica Lover in the 1973 Victoria Derby.)

The VRC continues to honour his legacy through the Taj Rossi Series Final, run each July over 1600m for late-developing two-year-olds stepping beyond the sprinting distances.

After beginning his career as a two-year-old in Adelaide, Taj Rossi registered his first two wins at Flemington during the winter of 1973, before returning in the spring as a three-year-old to deliver one of the most remarkable campaigns in modern racing history.