My ultimate Cox Plate field

[westdog54]

Seeing TD's Horse Racing thread has inspired me to start a discussion on my favourite race on the Australian Racing calendar.

Put together 14 horses for the ultimate Cox Plate showdown.

1. Winx. Walk up start.
2. Kingston Town. Also a walk up start.
3. Phar Lap. No Australian race field is complete without the greatest of all time.
4. Sunline. The ease with which she won her two plates was astounding.
5. Northerly. Also a two time winner.
6. Fields of Omagh. Beat some damn good horses to win his second as a 9 year old.
7. So You Think. It's one of the great shames of Australian Racing that Dato Tan Chin Nam chose to sell him after the 2010 Melbourne Cup. He would have surely win a third.
8. Dulcify. Had he not broken down in the Melbourne Cup, watching him go head to head with Kingston Town the next year would have been a sight to behold.
9. Better Loosen Up. Could well have won a second had he not been hampered by Let's Elope in 1992.
10. Tobin Bronze. Won two Cox Plates including his last on Australian soil after being sold to an American owner.
11. Bonecrusher. 1986 was the stuff of legends.
12. Tulloch. The Cox Plate was the icing on the cake of a great career.
13. Might and Power. One of the strongest front runners I've ever seen.
14. Surround. Would be remiss of me to exclude the only 3yo filly to win the race.

Who have I missed?

[GVGjr]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Would Makybe Diva be worth considering?

[Bornadog]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Would Makybe Diva be worth considering?

Absolutely

[westdog54]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Would Makybe Diva be worth considering?

I certainly considered the Diva. It was close between her and Bonecrusher for a spot.

[Twodogs]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Who have I missed?

Not many. Great list Nick.

Let's Elope? Super Impose was everyone's favorite for a couple of years but what horse do you leave out?

Is there a more storied race than the Cox Plate?

[Twodogs]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Dulcify. Had he not broken down in the Melbourne Cup, watching him go head to head with Kingston Town the next year would have been a sight to behold.

Bloody good call.


There's little doubt that Dulcify is part of the conversation when it comes to a discussion about the most brilliant racehorses Australia has ever seen.

During a brief but brutal reign as the king of the Australian turf, Dulcify won two Derbies, the Australian Cup and the Cox Plate among a string of feature race victories.

It was his 1979 Cox Plate win - by a then-record margin of seven lengths - that really stamped the Colin Hayes-trained galloper as a genuine freak but sadly, less than a fortnight later, his racing career and indeed his life was cut tragically short.

Starting a 3-1 favourite in the 1979 Melbourne Cup, tragedy struck when Dulcify was galloped upon during the race by the eventual winner Hyperno and broke his pelvis. He was put down on humane grounds.

https://www.racing.com/news/2019-10-25/news-dulcify---a-brief-but-brutal-reign

[westdog54]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Not many. Great list Nick.

Let's Elope? Super Impose was everyone's favorite for a couple of years but what horse do you leave out?

Is there a more storied race than the Cox Plate?

I couldn't include a horse that never won the thing in all fairness

[Twodogs]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Yeah that's a whole new thread-great horses that didn't win the Cox plate. From memory Let's Elope came second twice? Desperately unlucky to lose to Super in 1992 and a couple of years before.

How about Octagnal? It won the Cox Plate, the Underwood, the Australian Cup and the Australian Derby. Not many win going clockwise and counter clockwise It placed in a lot of feature races too.

[westdog54]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Yeah that's a whole new thread-great horses that didn't win the Cox plate. From memory Let's Elope came second twice? Desperately unlucky to lose to Super in 1992 and a couple of years before.

How about Octagnal? It won the Cox Plate, the Underwood, the Australian Cup and the Australian Derby. Not many win going clockwise and counter clockwise It placed in a lot of feature races too.

Ran 2nd or 3rd to Surfers Paradise in 1991 maybe?

Octagonal and Mahogany had a great duel in 95.

Lonhro was another great horse that never quite mastered The Valley.

Zipping was the ultimate bridesmaid as a galloper but still won an Australian Cup and four Sandown classics.

[Twodogs]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Ran 2nd or 3rd to Surfers Paradise in 1991 maybe?

I caved and looked it up. In 1992 she ran second and was relegated to fifth. I can't find the place result for 1991.

In the autumn of 1992 she returned to the track in fine form and won the VATC St. George Stakes and the VRC Australian Cup in record time. Later in the year she ran second in the W.S. Cox Plate, but was relegated to fifth on protest.

https://www.racingvictoria.com.au/the-sport/racing/australian-racing-museum/hall-of-fame/horses/lets-elope

[Axe Man]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Couldn't squeeze Shamus Award in?

[Bornadog]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

There are many horses that won the Plate twice back in the 30s and 40s, but because it was so long ago, we tend to discount them.

It is very hard to compare horses from different eras. My favourite is still Kingstown, I followed him from his first start, and he had a massive heart and never gave in. Almost pinched a Melbourne cup even though he wasn't a true stayer. His three cox plate wins were incredible.

[Axe Man]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

Rising Fast may be worth consideration - only horse to win the treble in the same year (and in a special year - 1954).

[westdog54]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

I caved and looked it up. In 1992 she ran second and was relegated to fifth. I can't find the place result for 1991.

In the autumn of 1992 she returned to the track in fine form and won the VATC St. George Stakes and the VRC Australian Cup in record time. Later in the year she ran second in the W.S. Cox Plate, but was relegated to fifth on protest.

https://www.racingvictoria.com.au/th...ses/lets-elope

I remember her being relegated in 92. She badly hampered Better Loosen Up. He was flying home as he loves to do.

I found a video of of 1991. It was Super that ran 2nd.

[westdog54]

Re: My ultimate Cox Plate field

There are many horses that won the Plate twice back in the 30s and 40s, but because it was so long ago, we tend to discount them.

It is very hard to compare horses from different eras. My favourite is still Kingstown, I followed him from his first start, and he had a massive heart and never gave in. Almost pinched a Melbourne cup even though he wasn't a true stayer. His three cox plate wins were incredible.

This is how I saw So You Think when he ran the Melbourne Cup.

Ran 1kg below top weight as a 4yo, having raced no further than 2040m in his previous starts, was pulling all the way up the straight the first time but managed to settle and run a very respectable 3rd by 3 lengths.

After he was sold to Coolmore Stud he never raced further than 2400m and won another 5 Group 1s in Europe.