The best race Australia has to offer is the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley. Regarded as the ‘best two minutes in sport’, the 2040m contest brings together the best of the best Australia has to offer and in recent years, it has also brought in an international flavour.
The Cox Plate is deep in history and some mighty horses have won it. Down below is our top ten Cox Plate winners.
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10: Lys Gracieux (2019) – The Japanese won the Caulfield Cup seven days prior but all the talk leading into the Spring was this mare and how good she could be…well what she delivered was something very special, carrying on from Winx. This mare gave them a start and a beating, gliding around The Valley and spanking a high quality field. This win was no one off as she went back to Japan and won at Group l level there, confirming her champion status.
9: So You Think (2010) – Black Caviar is the best horse I have seen. So You Think is a close second. He was an outstanding animal, winning two Cox Plates, with his second win being outstanding. He was ridden with such arrogance by Steve Arnold, pouring the pressure on More Joyous from a long way out and just maintained the galloper for an outstanding win, cementing his place in history. Had he stayed in Australia with Bart, I have no doubt he would have won a third Cox Plate and likely would have won a fourth.
8: Super Impose (1992) – One of the more famous races in Australian history given the fall down the side, which included dominant favourite Naturalism. On the turn, a host of runners looked like the winner, namely the mighty mare Let’s Elope, but she wanted to lay in badly under pressure and threw the race away and it was left to the veteran, Super Impose, who had seen better days it seemed but he had last say to launch over the top for a memorable win a rough house edition.
7: Northerly (2001) – This race had it all leading in, mainly with Sunline looking to create history by winning her third straight Cox Plate. She had competition from the fresh blood, WA star Northerly, there was international flavour, a quality three year old…on paper, the race had it all, and the race itself ended up having it all, with Northerly just getting the win in a blanket finish over Viscount and Sunline, with protests everywhere given how tight the finish was but Northerly retained the race in a great edition.
6: Kingston Town (1982) – Bill Collins is regarded as the best race caller Australia has produced. But perhaps he is best known for this call where he declared “Kingston Town can’t win” as the champ looked to be struggling on the turn, but remarkably, the gelding picked up and surged once balanced up in the straight to win his third Cox Plate and cemented his spot in history as holding the record of being a three time winner of the race…that was until the win down below.
5: Winx (2017) – One of the most watched races in Australian history. Winx, the mighty mare, was looking to make it four wins on the bounce in the Cox Plate. Much like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson/Larry Bird, this win was the separator between Winx and Kingston Town. She was expected to win, a record crowd was trackside and the mare didn’t let the world down as she proved too good for a small but select field. The race will go down in history given we will never see a horse win the Cox Plate four times again.
4: Makybe Diva (2005) – In terms of arrogant Cox Plate wins, the 2005 win from Makybe Diva is right up there. The shot down the side of 10+ horses spread across the track in a line is a great photo. Steven King, rider of Fields Of Omagh, later said he thought he was the winner until he looked to his outside and saw this mare trucking and bolting, which of course was Makybe Diva and the mare won. Given the long sustained run, it took a lot out of her, with rider Glen Boss saying post race he could feel her legs wobble underneath, demonstrating the effort she put in. The replay is from 16:44.
3: Winx (2016) – In hindsight, it’s laughable that Hartnell was considered a serious threat to Winx in this race, but at the time, he was the next big thing of Australian racing behind Winx and his Turnbull Stakes win ensured he was considered a serious threat. But James McDonald, rider of Hartnell, said it best when the mare loomed outside Hartnell 600m out, with McDonald saying “Oh shit” went through his head given how easily she was moving and the mare raced away to win by an absolute space, making it two Cox Plates on the bounce.
2: Sunline (2000) – Horses that can win big races from the front is always something that punters love and when you think of bold front runners, you think Might And Power and you think Sunline. She had some massive wins throughout her career but her best win, to the eye, was her second Cox Plate win, where she led throughout and she seemed to be at her absolute best. The sight of Greg Childs swinging on the mare and gliding around the home turn…poetry in motion. The field had elite quality and she made them look second rate. Outstanding performance.
1: Bonecrusher (1986) – ‘Bonecrusher races into equine immortality’ is the line most famous by Bill Collins as the two great Kiwi gallopers, Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star, declared each other on from 800m out and singled out to fight the finish out. The winner changed several times in the run but on the line, it was Bonecrusher who won the epic contest and it is still regarded as the greatest race Australia has seen.
