The Cox Plate

The Cox Plate is run at Moonee Valley at the end of October each year. It is renowned as the Weight For Age Championship and attracts the best racehorses in Australia. The race is programmed between the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and is the second richest race in Victoria carrying over $3 million in prize money. It is run over the unusual distance of 2040m.

The race is held at the Moonee Valley Racecourse, and is one of only three group one races at that venue. The Cox Plate is named after the founder of the Moonee Valley racecourse. Moonee Valley is a unique racetrack, being a tight circuit located close to Melbourne. The racetrack has the shortest straight of any major horse racing track in Australia at only 173 metres long. It is also the only racetrack in Victoria that uses a Strathayr surface

The historic race was first run in 1922. A few of the greatest names of the Australian turf to have won this race include Phar Lap, Tulloch and Flight. Eleven horses have won the Cox plate more than once. Kingston Town is the only horse to have won three Cox Plates, a feat he achieved between 1980 and 1982.

While three year olds do not often start in the race, those that do have a good record. So You Think in 2009 was the last 3yo to win the race, and became the first horse to win the race as a 3 and 4yo in 2010. Savabeel in 2004 was the previous 3yo winner, and he had been the first since Octagonal in 1995. The Champion Surround remains the only 3yo filly to have won the race. One of only five females to have won the Cox plate is Surround. In total, 18 three year olds have been triumphant.

With the Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup forming three of the main events of the Victorian Racing Spring Carnival, in 1954 Rising Fast remains the one and only horse to have won all these races in the current year. He is one of only four horses to have won the Caulfield Cup/Cox Plate double with Northerly in 2002 being the last to achieve this feat. Rising Fast is also one of five horses to have won the Cox Plate/Melbourne Cup double in the same year with the most recent being Saintly in 1996 and Makybe Diva in 2005.

The last decade has seen some of our best horses taking out the championship race. Sunline and Northerly together won this race in successive years while Fields of Omagh won this race twice but three years in between wins.

Hall Of Fame trainer, Tommy Smith remains the dominant trainer with seven victories including the treble of Kingston Town. Champion jockey Darby Munro has won this race five times and is still the current record holder.

The Cox Plate is intrinsically linked with Australian Racing history. Some of the greatest performances ever seen on our racetracks have occurred in this race. Gunsynd, Dulcify, Red Anchor, Bonecrusher, Better Loosen Up and Might And Power all underline the statement that the Cox Plate is the race that makes legends of the Australian turf.

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