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Live sport on SN this weekendJ Mac 'over the moon' following fourth straight Cox Plate win
Nicholas Quinlan • October 26th, 2025 12:12 am
It was the feeling of relief that enveloped James McDonald after winning the 2025 Cox Plate, which sees him go back-to-back with Via Sistina.
Coming into the race, the eight-year-old mare, trained by Chris Waller, was the favourite to win the race having won last year’s edition of the 2040m Group One by seven lengths.
And 12 months later, the combination would once again be successful with Via Sistina beating out her stablemate in Buckaroo by half a head in the Valley's final race before its redevelopment.
With this win, McDonald has now claimed his fourth Cox Plate win in a row, having ridden Anamoe and Romantic Warrior to victory in 2022 and 2023 before going back-to-back with Via Sistina the last two years.
He now joins Hugh Bowman as the only jockeys to have won four straight Cox Plates.
Reflecting on his feelings after the victory, the 33-year-old said that it felt similar to last year’s victory in terms of feeling relieved.
“I think this one is relief as well,” McDonald explained in his post-race interview with Racing.com.
“I love this place, I’m blessed to ride champion racehorses, I’m blessed to be a part of a champion stable, and she was trained to the minute.
“I can’t thank the Waller team…like everyone, they’re exceptional horse people, they love their horses, Candice (Persijn) lives and breathes this horse, she deserves a lot of the credit with this horse.
“Even though it wasn’t seven lengths, I’m just over the moon.”
Chris Waller was also interviewed in the aftermath of the race, noting that everything for Via Sistina had gone perfectly.
“Everything has gone perfectly,” he said.
“I know she hasn’t won her last two runs, but all the data suggest she’s flying.
“And once they set those benchmarks, providing the horse is healthy and well, you know they are going to get somewhere close to it, and that’s what we knew this week.”
