Centenary Cox Plate celebrated in silence
The WS Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) will lack its usual amphitheatre-like atmosphere when the race is run at an empty Moonee Valley today.
Cox Plate day usually has about 30,000 racegoers with the countdown to the $5 million race producing scenes that are unique in world racing.
Crowds get closer to the horses at Moonee Valley than any other Melbourne racetrack.
But that won’t be the case in 2020 as spectators remain locked out in line with Victoria’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Horses will parade in silence and head through the famous tunnel and onto the track without the usual cheers to greet the competitors.
Leading Melbourne jockey Ben Melham said the quiet environment would help most horses perform at their best on the big occasion.
“It’s a lot easier for the horses because they don’t get wound up as much without the crowds,” Melham said. “From that regard, it helps them conserve their energy more in the run so it won’t be a disadvantage for them.”
Melham rides the Aidan O’Brien-trained Armory (Galileo), who enters the Cox Plate having finished third in the Irish Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) at Leopardstown last month. O’Brien will be aiming to win the Cox Plate for a second time, having scored with another European three-year-old in Adelaide (Galileo) in 2014.
“At his last start he had Magical and Ghaiyyath in front of him and the Arc winner Sottsass was fourth,” said O’Brien’s travelling foreman T J Comerford. “He was also a three-year-old taking on the older horses. That seems better form.
“He’s doing everything right. His form alone, his last couple of runs have been very good and his form has stacked up from Group 3 to a Group 1.”
The stable’s second runner Magic Wand (Galileo), fourth last year, has been withdrawn due to a foot abscess, opening the way for O’Brien’s son Joseph to have his first Cox Plate runner with Buckhurst (Australia).
Buckhurst finished seventh in the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) last week and was controversially omitted from the field earlier in the week, before gaining a start due to Magic Wand’s withdrawal. Rider Jamie Kah will become the first Australian woman to ride in a Cox Plate and the fourth overall, joining Kiwis Deb Healey, Rosie Ealden and Lisa Cropp.
“He has come out of his run in Caulfield very well and we’d be hoping he gets a share of the prize-money at least,” the younger O’Brien said. “He ran well at Caulfield and the race wasn’t run ideally either.”
It is not all an Irish armada, with Britain represented by the Roger Charlton-prepared Aspetar (Al Kazeem).
Winner of the Preis Von Europa (Gr 1, 2400m) at Cologne last year, he has only raced twice this season, scoring a last-start win in the York Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 2.5f) in July. The same race saw Addeybb (Pivotal) finish second as favourite last year before his career-defining season in 2020.
Last year’s winning rider Damian Lane takes the mount.
Charlton said: “I feel very lucky to have a runner in such a special race as the 100th running of the Cox Plate. Aspetar has travelled many times before which will hold him in good stead and I expect him to be suited by the track.
“He seems to have regained his weight since going over there and all the reports I have had have been good. He drew stall three which is a good place to be and he could well sit in from there.”
The fourth horse to come off the Werribee training track is the now locally-prepared Sir Dragonet (Camelot), the perennial bridesmaid looking to taste success once more. Formerly with Aidan O’Brien, he is now trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, with Glen Boss to be legged aboard the bay.
“Sir Dragonet has obvious credentials. He has form around the best horses in the world,” Maher said. “At his last start he finished second behind Magical. You can’t get any better than that.
“He’s travelled well and he’s in good order. He’s got a super jockey on, Glen Boss, who knows how to win big races.”
The local contingent is headed by Caulfield Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) one-two Arcadia Queen (Pierro) and Russian Camelot (Camelot), while Probabeel (Savabeel) can fly the flag for New Zealand.
A Probabeel victory would give rider Kerrin McEvoy the grand slam of Australian racing – the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m). It is a feat that has been achieved by only seven jockeys: Neville Sellwood, Roy Higgins, Mick Dittman, Pat Hyland, Jim Cassidy, Chris Munce and Damien Oliver.
To make it even more special, McEvoy last weekend added The Everest (1200m) on Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), with the richest contest on the Australian calendar the “fifth Beatle” of racing’s grand slam.
“For me, it’s the last grand slam one to tick off so it would be a real treat,” he said. “It’s a quality Group 1 race and everyone wants it on the list if they can. It would be a huge feather in my cap, I’d just be delighted.
“There’s only a small group of jockeys who have been able to do it, so it would be the cherry on what’s already been a fruitful spring for me. It’s great to be a part of the 100th running and it would be extra special to win the centenary running of the race.
“Better Loosen Up was one of my favourite horses growing up so to see him and Super Impose, those sort of horses, winning it as a young kid, it really does grab your attention.”
The WS Cox Plate will jump at 4:15pm Melbourne time.