McDonald ties record with Aeliana in thrilling Ranvet victory
The powerhouse Sydney duo of jockey James McDonald and trainer Chris Waller levelled two cherished Australian racing milestones as Aeliana clinched a pulsating success in the Group 1 $1 million Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
With Aeliana, McDonald reached his 129th Group 1 career victory, matching the record for a jockey based in Australia that belonged to Damien Oliver, a Hall of Famer.
The combination also marked their 54th joint Group 1 win, equalling the iconic team of George Moore and Tommy Smith.
Just 35 minutes on, the elite jockey and celebrated trainer surpassed both tallies outright courtesy of Autumn Boy in the Group 1 $750,000 Rosehill Guineas (2000m).
Aeliana kickstarted the memorable day for McDonald and Waller, despite her barnmate Lindermann pushing the mare to dig deep and nearly derailing the party.
McDonald conceded the narrow short neck margin was "not how the script's supposed to go'' on his 129th Group 1 record-equaller.
"Aeliana is just incredible, her tenacity to find the line was just superb,'' McDonald said.
"She's been building to something like that and I've got to give credit to the second horse because they made us work.
"Nash (Rawiller, rider of Lindermann) is a genius when it comes to race tempo. He got things on his own terms, and Damian (Lane, rider of Trinity College) was just sitting off him the whole way.
"It wasn't ideal, that's for sure, because he had a picnic up in front. But I was on a good horse and she deservedly won that one.''
As the $1.60 favourite, Aeliana used every inch of the Rosehill straight to overhaul the plucky pacemaker Lindermann ($16), scoring by a short neck for Waller's latest Group 1 dead-heat.
Craig Williams rode Sir Delius ($3) in Aeliana's wake for much of the race, appearing a serious danger turning for home, yet he couldn't make up ground and ended a length-plus adrift in third.
Securing his 190th Group 1 career hit, Waller agreed Aeliana had to "fight for it" amid roars from the Slipper Day throng as the teammates put on a compelling battle.
"The crowd was awesome, that's what racing's all about,'' Waller said.
"These great horses being everyone together to enjoy the sport and that was a great spectacle.
"He's (Lindermann) a good horse on his day and I think Nash controlled the race really well.
"Aeliana had to be good to win and obviously Sir Delius on our back, that gave me a bit of a scare when he came with us.
"But you could just see, they sort of broke clear of him and then it was a fight between the stablemates.
"It didn't really matter who won but obviously for James today - it's a big one.''
The Waller-McDonald alliance began with their first Group 1 via Delectation in 2015, rendering 54 in 11 years an outstanding accomplishment.
"I'm just lucky to train lots of good horses and have an association with a terrific young man,'' Waller said.
Aeliana entered the Ranvet winless this term post her commanding Derby score, runner-up in four Group events to rivals including Via Sistina and Autumn Glow, but her elite win was well-received and merited.
Owned by Star Thoroughbreds of Denise Martin, Aeliana bolstered the syndicate's Golden Slipper Day record.
The exceptional colt Sebring took the 2008 Golden Slipper for Martin, with Aeliana as her third Ranvet Stakes winner following Theseo's consecutive triumphs in 2009-10.
Waller remains open to entering Aeliana in the Group 1 $1.5 million Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill the following Saturday.
"I'm not sure about the Tancred but the distance is no problem,'' Martin said."A seven-day back-up isn't ideal but I will see how a few others go today and then we will try to map it all out tomorrow.''
Lindermann offered "an amazing performance" according to Rawiller for his near-miss second place.
"He picked himself up off the canvas there at the 100m and really rallied,'' Rawiller said.
"I thought for a stride we could worry her out of it but she is a top mare in her own right."
Sir Delius' rider Craig Williams eyes the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick April 11.
"Sir Delius is flying,'' Williams said."The winner beat us by three and a bit lengths the other day so we shortened that margin down to about a length."He felt like he still has more racing improvement to come on and he's right in line for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes now.''
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