Aeliana comes out on top of Tancred thriller
If Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) wasn’t around, Aeliana (Castevecchio) would be close to being hailed as Australian racing’s superstar mare.
But a week after scoring her second elite victory, Chris Waller’s other great current female showed she was worthy of the lofty title herself when she scored her most stirring triumph to date in Saturday’s Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) at Rosehill.
Last autumn, Star Thoroughbreds’ $180,000 Karaka purchase took the breath away in beating the boys by 5.16 lengths in the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m).
Last week, she showed her fighting qualities with a 0.3-length victory in the WFA Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) when she wore down stablemate Lindermann (Lonhro) – a redoubtable Group 1 winner but perhaps short of the top echelon.
Backed up for Sydney’s major WFA staying test on Saturday, she confronted a bone fide top-rater in William Haggas’ English raider Dubai Honour (Pride Of Dubai), here for a third time in quest of his fourth Australian elite title – to go with his other one in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud (Gr 1, 2400m) – and back-to-back Tancreds.
With Aeliana strongly backed into $1.70 favouritism, and Dubai Honour a $3.60 second elect, the stage was set for an engrossing battle between the four-year-old mare and the eight-year-old gelding, and what transpired didn’t disappoint.
Contrasting his three previous Australian wins, Tom Marquand jumped Dubai Honour to the lead from the widest gate of eight. James McDonald on Aeliana didn’t let him out of his sights, sitting two lengths behind, outside the third horse.
Marquand sought to catch his rivals off-guard, calling for his mount’s effort at the 600 metres. Straightening for home he led the mare by four lengths, as McDonald roused Aeliana for the fight.
Dubai Honour still led by three passing the 300 metres, but gave a tell as he veered out sharply. Aeliana was behind and to his inside then, but would soon be on his outside again as Dubai Honour returned to the fence.
The international warrior was still two lengths clear at the 100 metres, but with the crowd yelling itself hoarse, Aeliana dug her deepest to continue her charge, wearing away until clinching victory in the last few strides, by 0.3 lengths.
Back in third was $7 third-favourite Vauban (Galiway), a full five lengths behind Aeliana.
“It’s hard to beat a Haggas horse when they’re being set for a race as Mr Haggas does. He shows us what training’s all about when he comes down here. We knew we had to be on top of our game,” said an emotional Waller after his 193rd Group 1.
“Full credit to Aeliana; she’s a proper horse. She puts herself in the race, never let Dubai Honour get out of our sights.
“He threw the task at the 600-metre mark, probably a little bit earlier than what we liked but James just cuddled her and fortunately she was just strong to the line and we just got there in time.”
Asked about pushing ahead with the back-up, Waller said it was about “just trusting your gut instinct more than anything”.
“Her winning the Derby was a big plus, so she’s won over the distance [2400m], so you’re not having to tick boxes. The only box we had to tick was the seven day back-up,” he said.
“She’s eaten well. It’s been well publicised that she wasn’t a mature horse in the spring and she’s come back a different horse now.”
McDonald, having increased his Australian record of Group 1 wins to 132, said he had benefited from trusting Aeliana in the run.
“I had to be pretty patient with her because I learned a bit about her the other day,” he said of her fighting Ranvet win.
“I wanted to learn from what I felt the other day. I thought even though it wasn’t ideal letting them get so far in front, I had confidence that the mare would pick up. Once she balances up, then she’ll find it.
“Last time Nash [Rawiller on Lindermann] rode a terrific race and had me a little bit disorganised and I didn’t want that to happen today. Luckily we were on a superior horse and credit to the runner-up, he gave us one hell of a fright.
“I probably would have loved to have a bit of cover but it didn’t work out that way. She was so brave. It wasn’t my plan to give him so much of a headstart. I just waited and waited for her to be ready and when she was ready she just exploded.
“About the 300, I could feel her really building underneath me. I just felt if I went earlier and chased her I would’ve been just out of my comfort zone. It was a chance I was willing to take and I’m glad it paid off.”
McDonald also credited Star Thoroughbreds boss Denise Martin, saying the syndicator performed “a wonderful job”.
“She puts a lot of time and effort and a lot of money into the game. She brings a whole new bunch of people,” he said.
“We’ve been lucky to have a great partnership, I respect Denise greatly and really appreciate riding for her. She’s got a wonderful mare on her hands and she’s going to have so much fun with her.”
Marquand was also glowing in his praise of Aeliana, after an escapade that so nearly carried the day.
“We thought we’d try something different today,” the Englishman said. “We kind of knew what would happen if we just sat and did what we normally do. We tried it. It nearly worked. The filly is very good. She ran him down and probably had no right to really.”
With Aeliana the 11th horse to complete the Ranvet-Tancred double, she’s now in line for the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), where she’ll again take on her contemporary Autumn Glow, who beat her into second in her first two starts of this campaign.
After the Tancred, bookmakers tightened Aeliana into joint second favouritism for the April 11 WFA feature at $4.50, level with Sir Delius (Frankel) and behind Autumn Glow’s $1.40.
Given it will be Autumn Glow’s first try beyond 1600 metres, the QEII could transpire as another gripping match race. But Waller remained non-committal on a run for Aeliana.
“She’s had two solid runs, we’ll see how the Queen Elizabeth fits in,” he said. “She’ll be here for another two years so that’s a lot of races to still look forward to.”
Well-bred, in New Zealand, by Rich Hill Thoroughbreds and Nearco Stud, Aeliana comes with a strong Star Thoroughbreds connection.
From the first-crop of Arrowfield’s Castelvecchio (Dundeel), she’s the second foal of Temolie (Star Witness), who was placed just once in seven starts but is a half-sister to Star’s former outstanding mare Invincibella (I Am Invincible). That mare won five stakes races for Star and Waller including the Tatts Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m), for more than $3 million.
Temolie is also a half-sister to two other stakes winners in Secret Blaze (Sizzling) and Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice).
The mare now has a yearling filly by Proisir (Choisir) and was covered back in Australia by Castelvecchio’s sire Dundeel (High Chaparral) last spring.
Aeliana is one of six stakes victors, two elite winners and 62 winners for Castevecchio from 114 runners, at a 5.2 percent SWTR ratio. The nine-year-old stood at Arrowfield last season for $49,500, up from $22,000 in 2024.
After withdrawals, Castevecchio will have four lots come under the hammer at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.