Yulong has confirmed that its superstar mares Via Sistina and Treasurethe Moment will be kept on separate paths until their anticipated showdown in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

The decision came after discussions between the Yulong team, trainers Chris Waller and Matt Laurie, and owner Mr Zhang, with both mares’ programs being slightly adjusted to avoid an early clash.

Australian Horse of the Year Via Sistina, trained by Waller, will skip the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) on September 13. Instead, she is provisionally pencilled in for either the 7 Stakes (1600m) at Randwick or the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on September 20. Her program then calls for the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 4 before she looks to defend her Cox Plate crown on October 25.

Meanwhile, Matt Laurie’s Champion Three-Year-Old filly Treasurethe Moment, fresh from a brilliant first-up win in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m), will take her place in the Makybe Diva Stakes. Instead of heading to the Turnbull as initially planned, she will now target the Group 1 Might And Power (2000m) at Caulfield on October 11 as her final lead-up to the Cox Plate.

“We feel that it is in the best interests of the horses not to meet until they need to,” Yulong Racing Manager Troy Stephens said. “After discussions with Mr Zhang, the Yulong team and the trainers, both Chris and Matt have agreed to change their preparations slightly, keeping each mare on their own separate path that will ultimately benefit the horses long-term. This season’s Cox Plate is certainly not a two-horse race, but it will definitely add to the spectacle if these two great mares line up for the first time together in October.”

Punters anticipating the Via Sistina–Treasurethe Moment clash in the Cox Plate can find early odds and futures markets at Australia’s leading betting sites.