Photo: bradleyphotos.com.au
After a season of near-misses against elite opposition, New Zealand-bred mare Aeliana (Castelvecchio) broke through for a richly deserved second Group One success in Saturday’s A$1 million Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
The Chris Waller-trained daughter of Castelvecchio was a stunning five-length winner of the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) last autumn, but until Saturday, her four-year-old season had been a story of ‘so close, but so far’.
She gave Horse of the Year Via Sistina an almighty scare fresh up in the Gr.1 Winx Stakes (1400m) in August, where only a neck separated them at the line. Aeliana then ran second in the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), fifth in the Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m), an unlucky sixth in the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m), then was runner-up behind superstar stablemate Autumn Glow in the Gr.2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) and Gr.1 Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m).
Waller split Autumn Glow and Aeliana on Saturday, with Autumn Glow pointing instead towards the Gr.1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m), and that left Aeliana as $1.60 favourite to claim her Ranvet reward.
Aeliana was ridden patiently by James McDonald, who had her travelling sweetly in fourth among a field of five.
McDonald presented Aeliana at the top of the straight and she soon drew up alongside her front-running stablemate Lindermann, but that rival refused to let her pass without a fight. They battled tooth and nail through the last 150m, with Aeliana gradually getting the upper hand and edging ahead to win by a short neck.
The Ranvet was the 129th Group One win for McDonald, equalling Damien Oliver’s all-time record for an Australian-based jockey. It was fitting that he reached that number in partnership with fellow expat Kiwi horseman Waller – who has provided 54 of his Group One wins – and on a New Zealand-bred horse. McDonald broke the record less than an hour later when he won the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) on Aeliana’s stablemate Autumn Boy.
“It’s pretty special,” Waller said. “I’m just lucky to train lots of good horses and have an association with a terrific young man.
“Aeliana was made to fight for it today. Lindermann is a good horse on his day, and I think Nash (Rawiller, jockey) controlled the race really well. Aeliana had to be good to win, obviously with Sir Delius on our back as well. It gave me a bit of a scare when he came with us.
“But then they sort of broke clear from him and it was a fight between the stablemates. There’s an awesome crowd here today and it gave them a great spectacle.”
McDonald deflected credit onto Aeliana, who he had last ridden on raceday when she was runner-up in the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield in the spring of 2024.
“She's just incredible,” McDonald said. “Her tenacity to find the line was just superb. She’s been building to something like that, and I've got to give credit to the second horse, because they made us work. I was thinking, ‘This is not how the script's supposed to go.’
“Nash is a genius when it comes to that. He just gets things on his own terms. 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.”
The Ranvet Stakes was the fifth win of a 17-start career for Aeliana, who has placed on another seven occasions and has now earned over A$3.5 million. Syndicators Star Thoroughbreds paid $180,000 to buy her from the Rich Hill Stud draft during Book 1 of Karaka 2023.
Aeliana was bred by Nearco Stud and Rich Hill Thoroughbreds and is by Arrowfield Stud stallion Castelvecchio out of the Star Witness mare Temolie.
Aeliana is the first foal to race out of Temolie, who was herself a placegetter on the racetrack and is a half-sister to Star Thoroughbreds’ Group One winner Invincibella, as well as the Group Three winner Secret Blaze and Listed winner Extreme Flight.
Rich Hill Stud bought Temolie for A$200,000 from the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast, when she was carrying Aeliana.
Temolie has been served by Rich Hill’s headline stallion Proisir every spring since then, producing filly foals in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The first of those Proisir fillies was bought by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and TFI for $250,000 at Karaka 2024, while Aeliana’s owners Star Thoroughbreds paid $300,000 to buy the filly offered by Rich Hill during Book 1 of Karaka 2025 last year.
