'The jockey got there too soon' - Via Sistina should have won Champion Stakes says proud but frustrated owner

Via Sistina’s owner spoke with a mixture of pride and frustration on Sunday having felt better deployment of the mare’s turn of foot would have carried her to victory over King Of Steel in the Qipco Champion Stakes.

Having swept widest of all into the home straight, the George Boughey-trained Via Sistina moved into the lead with two furlongs remaining and was in front until well inside the final furlong before she was run down by King Of Steel, who provided his rider Frankie Dettori with a spectacular send-off from British racing.

Via Sistina’s chances were not aided by jockey Oisin Murphy dropping his whip in the closing stages, but Stephen Hillen, who owns the five-year-old with his wife Rebecca, said it was his belief that the premature move to the front on the mare ultimately led to her coming off second best by three-quarters of a length.