Champion jockey James McDonald has warned of the dangers facing recently crowned Australian Horse of the Year Via Sistina in Saturday’s (13 September) G1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.

In a small but talented six-horse field, the mare is aiming for her eleventh Group 1 victory after claiming her tenth win at the highest level when she resumed at Randwick in the Winx Stakes (1400m) on 23 August.

McDonald, who has ridden the eight-year-old in seven of her nine Australian Group 1 victories, is aware of the talent of stablemate Aeliana who challenged Via Sistina first-up in the Winx Stakes before going down by a neck.

“She (Aeliana) is exceptional, but she’s not the only one in the race,” McDonald said.

“There’s Antino, there’s (Mr) Brightside, there’s Tom Kitten. They’ll all be hard to beat, they’re good horses in their own right.”

A Group 1 winner in Ireland before being sold to Australia, Via Sistina has only been out of the placings once in her 12 local starts and that was in this race last season when she finished fifth on a heavy track.

“She had excuses,’’ McDonald said. “It was raining on the day. It was quite slippery, the track, and she just didn’t stretch out at all, so hopefully we don’t get rain.”

Leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller will saddle the two leading contenders, Via Sistina and Aeliana.

Mr Brightside is bidding to win his third consecutive Makybe Diva Stakes and resumed with a solid second in the G1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on 30 August with a performance that showed he’d returned to form after running last at his previous start in the G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on 27 April.

A proven second-up performer with six wins and a second from eight attempts, co-trainer Ben Hayes said the nine-time Group 1 winner had come through the Memsie Stakes in great order.

He said the eight-year-old wasn’t fully “wound up” for his first-up assignment when the race was run quicker than expected which exposed a lot of the other runners.

“He is a pretty tough weight-for-age horse these days and he has really come on from it (Memsie) and has again improved in the coat and he just keeps improving,” Hayes said.

The Tony Gollan-trained Antino, who was an unlucky eleventh after striking plenty of interference in last December’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin, was solid at his last start when he was over four lengths away in fifth in the Memsie Stakes.

He will take plenty of improvement from the run and is considered a major player.

Talented gelding Tom Kitten, now in the Anthony and Sam Freedman stables, suffered a setback in what was to be his first-up run in the Memsie Stakes when he was scratched at the barriers after becoming fractious.

He has since had a 1000m jump-out and is more than capable of matching it with the top fancies.