VIVY AIR PREVAILS IN THE BIG DANCE WILDCARD

By Graham Potter | Saturday, October 18, 2025

The Big Dance Wildcard, one of the undercard races at Randwick on Everest Day, saw the first two horses past the post … the winner Vivy Air and the runner-up Swiftfalcon … gain qualification for the $3 million Big Dance which will also take place at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day, Tuesday November 4.

Vivy Air, who finished second in the Group 3 Cameron at Newcastle in his previous start, stepped it up a notch here to go one better to claim her third career win in her twenty-fifth start.

“She’s been a mare who likes to run second, but she was huge in the Big Dance last year,” said trainer Ciaron Maher. (Vivy Air finished second behind her stable companion Gringotts in last year’s Big Dance).

“It’s good to have her in form. She’s presented beautifully here today.”

“Ethan (Brown) rode her beautifully,” continued Maher. “He’s been sort of making noises about becoming a Sydneysider. Anyway, I love having him here. He is a great jockey. He’s in good form and he’s a good bloke.”

“She’s done a good job that mare,” said Brown. “I just made sure her revs were up coming around the corner. She hadn’t hit the front for a long time. I reckon she would have thrived off of that. It would have done the world for her confidence.

“She just held the other one off.” (Vivy Air ($5.50) won by a diminishing 0.14 lengths from the faster finishing Swiftfalcon, who was the $3 race favourite).

“She holds her gallop. She is probably not much good ridden for a turn of foot.

“I think, put her in the race. She is fit, strong and forward … and we made use of that today.”

Swiftfalcon is also a three-time winner (from sixteen starts).

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