 Rogilla, 1933 winner andDarby Munro | |
| Class | Group One |
|---|---|
| Location | Moonee Valley Racecourse,Melbourne, Australia |
| Inaugurated | 1922; 103 years ago (1922) List of Cox Plate winners |
| Race type | Thoroughbred –Flat racing |
| Sponsor | Ladbrokes (2025) |
| Website | Moonee Valley Racing Club |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2,040 metres |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | Horses three years old and older |
| Weight | Weight for age |
| Purse | A$6,000,000 (2025) |
| Bonuses | Winner ballot exemption from theMelbourne Cup |
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The W. S. Cox Plate is aGroup 1Thoroughbredhorse race for horses aged three years old and over underWeight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by theMoonee Valley Racing Club atMoonee Valley Racecourse,Melbourne,Australia in late October.[1] The race has a purse ofA$6,000,000.[2]
The race is named in honour ofWilliam Samuel (W. S.) Cox, the racing club's founder.[3]
It was first run on Saturday 28 October 1922 with a purse of £1,000.
Between 1999–2005 the event was included in the Emirates World Series Racing Championship, a global "grand prix" of horse racing. The series included theKing George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes atAscot, theJapan Cup, theDubai World Cup, theArlington Million, theHong Kong Cup, theCanadian International Stakes, theGrosser Preis von Baden, theIrish Champion Stakes, theBreeders' Cup Turf and theBreeders' Cup Classic.
In August 2025, it was announced that due to renovations at Moonee Valley that are scheduled to begin after that year's Cox Plate, the 2026 edition of the race would be run atFlemington Racecourse. It will be the first time in history that the Cox Plate will be run at a racecourse other than Moonee Valley.[4][5]
Past winners of the Cox Plate include many of the champion racehorses of Australia andNew Zealand.Winx has been the most successful, winning four years in a row (2015–2018) andKingston Town won the race three times. Many horses have won the race twice, includingPhar Lap,Flight,Tobin Bronze,Sunline,Northerly,Fields of Omagh, andSo You Think.
Only one horse has ever won the race in the same year as winning the Melbourne and Caulfield cups,Rising Fast (1954), considered by many to be the greatest-ever horse from New Zealand. One other horse, Might & Power, has won all 3 races but the Cox Plate win was in the next year.[citation needed]
The double with theMelbourne Cup has only been achieved by seven horses:Makybe Diva,Might and Power,Saintly,Nightmarch, Phar Lap,Delta and Rising Fast.
Only three horses have ever won the Melbourne Cup and then gone on to win the Cox Plate the following year: Phar Lap, Might and Power and Makybe Diva.
The first Cox Plate was run in 1922 and won by the English horse Violoncello, who also won his next three starts during theMelbourne Spring Racing Carnival.
The 1925 race was taken out by three-year-oldManfred, who went on to win the VRC Derby and ran second to Windbag in the Melbourne Cup.
The class gallopersHeroic (21 wins from 51 races) andAmounis (33 wins from 78 races) were successful in 1926 and 1927.
Champion New Zealand-bredNightmarch won in 1929 before Phar Lap took out the race in 1930 and 1931. Another dual winner of the race wasChatham in 1932 and 1934, as wasYoung Idea in 1936 and 1937.
The 1938 race was won byAjax (36 wins from 46 races) in race record time. Outstanding New Zealand championBeau Vite, a winner of 31 races, won in 1940 and 1941.
Due to restrictions on interstate travel due to World War II, the race was only contested by local horses from 1942 to 1944.
In 1946, the Cox Plate was run in two divisions with the mareFlight winning the stronger division. She became a dual winner following her victory a year earlier.Hydrogen became the seventh dual winner of the race with victories in 1952 and 1953. The dualCaulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup winnerRising Fast won in 1954.Redcraze, a 32-race winner and New Zealand champion, took out the Plate in 1957 as a seven-year-old, ridden byGeorge Moore.Noholme took nearly a second off the race record in a front-running display to win in 1959.
Tulloch, who is often compared to Phar Lap andCarbine, won the following year and again set a new race record.Tobin Bronze became a dual winner of the race with victories in 1966 and 1967. The 1969 Cox Plate was won by the New Zealand three-year-old coltDaryl's Joy, who went on to race successfully in the USA. The popular Goondiwindi grey,Gunsynd, was trainer Tommy Smith's third winner of the Cox Plate in 1972, and the New Zealand Derby winnerFury's Order staggered to victory on a bog track in 1975.Surround became the first three-year-old filly to win the race in 1976, when she defeated the VRC Derby winner Unaware.
The ill-fatedDulcify strode away to win by seven lengths in 1979. He later started favourite in the Melbourne Cup but wasput down after breaking a pelvis during the race. One of only two triple winners of the Cox Plate,Kingston Town, won in 1980, 1981 and 1982. On each occasion he was ridden by a different jockey:Malcolm Johnston in 1980, Ron Quinton in 1981, andPeter Cook in 1982. After winning in 1983,Strawberry Road raced in Europe and the US, where he ran fifth in thePrix de l'Arc de Triomphe atLongchamp and third to Seattle Song in the 1984Washington, D.C. International atLaurel. In 1984,Red Anchor became trainerT.J. Smith's seventh Cox Plate winner. The 1986 Cox Plate was a two-horse war over the final 800 metres beforeBonecrusher triumphed overOur Waverley Star by a neck. This encounter became known as theRace of the Century.
Rubiton, the winner in 1987, went on to a successful stud career where he sired a future Cox Plate winner inFields of Omagh.Better Loosen Up was 30 lengths from the lead, with 1000 metres to run, before winning the 1990 Plate in record time. He later became the first – and remains the only – Australian horse to win theJapan Cup. The eight-year-oldSuper Impose won in 1992 and defeated a top-class field which includedBetter Loosen Up,Let's Elope and favouriteNaturalism, who lost his rider. Naturalism went on to run second in theJapan Cup. Australian Horse of the YearOctagonal defeatedMahogany in 1995, whileSaintly gaveBart Cummings his second winner of the race in 1996 andDane Ripper his third winner the following year. The 'People's Champion'Might and Power led throughout to win in 1998, setting a new track record not to be broken for 17 years.
In a front-running display,Sunline won the 1999 Cox Plate and returned in 2000 to win again by seven lengths (equalling Dulcify's winning margin), before West Australian championNortherly defeated her in 2001 and 2002. In 2004,Savabeel became the first 3-year-old to win since Octagonal. In 2005,Makybe Diva triumphed and 10 days later became one of the most popular horses in Australian racing history with an unprecedented thirdMelbourne Cup win.
Fields of Omagh won his second Cox Plate in 2006, having already won in 2003, then finished second in 2004 and third behind Makybe Diva in 2005. In 2007, El Segundo won the Cox Plate, avenging his close defeat to Fields of Omagh the year before. In 2008, Maldivian led all the way to claim victory.So You Think, at just his fifth career start, was an easy winner in 2009, giving Bart Cummings his fourth training victory in the race.
In 2013,Shamus Award recorded his first career win in the Cox Plate, a unique achievement for a WFA race of such high standing. He gained a start only due to the scratching of the favourite, Atlantic Jewel.
Winx won in 2015 as a 4-year-old mare, setting a new track record. She returned in 2016 when the field included theGodolphin starHartnell. Winx and Hartnell were close at the home bend before Winx accelerated away to score by a record-breaking margin of eight lengths. In 2017, the champion mare started the Cox Plate as the shortest-priced favourite since Phar Lap at $1.10, aiming for her 22nd successive win. After a challenge in the final 200m from Humidor, Winx won, to join Kingston Town in becoming just the second triple winner of the race, setting a new track record of 2 min 2.94. In 2018 Winx won an unprecedented fourth Cox Plate.
For a list of Cox Plate winning horses, seeList of Cox Plate winners.
The favourite in the Cox Plate[6] has an overall win rate of 41%. Favourites starting at less than $2.00 (Even money – 1/1) have a win rate of 70%. Phar Lap has the record of shortest favourite at $1.07 (1/14 on) in 1931. More recently Winx started favourite at $1.10 (1/10 on) in 2017 on her way to winning her record-equalling third Cox Plate and in 2018 at her record-breaking fourth win she started at 1.20.
| Year | Favourite | Price | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Via Sistina | $2.25 | 1 |
| 2024 | Prognosis | 3.40 | 2 |
| 2023 | Romantic Warrior | 3.70 | 1 |
| 2022 | Anamoe | 2.40 | 1 |
| 2021 | Verry Elleegant | 3.60 | 3 |
| 2020 | Russian Camelot | 3.50 | 3 |
| 2019 | Lys Gracieux | 2.50 | 1 |
| 2018 | Winx | 1.20 | 1 |
| 2017 | Winx | 1.10 | 1 |
| 2016 | Winx | 1.70 | 1 |
| 2015 | Winx | 4.60 | 1 |
| 2014 | Fawkner | 4.50 | 2 |
| 2013 | Dundeel | 4.00 | 8 |
| 2012 | Green Moon | 5.00 | 7 |
| 2011 | Helmet | 3.30 | 8 |
| 2010 | So You Think | 1.50 | 1 |
| 2009 | So You Think | 2.80 | 6 |
| 2008 | Samantha Miss | 4.50 | 3 |
| 2007 | Miss Finland | 4.00 | 4 |
| 2006 | Racing To Win | 3.75 | 11 |
| 2005 | Makybe Diva | 2.00 | 1 |
| 2004 | Elvstroem | 4.20 | 8 |
| 2003 | Lonhro | 1.60 | 3 |
| 2002 | Northerly | 4.00* | 1 |
| 2002 | Lonhro | 4.00* | 6 |
| 2001 | Sunline | 2.75 | 2 |
| 2000 | Sunline | 2.38 | 1 |
| 1999 | Redoute's Choice | 4.50 | 5 |
| 1998 | Might and Power | 1.73 | 1 |
| 1997 | Filante | 2.38 | 2 |
| 1996 | Filante | 3.25* | 2 |
| 1996 | Juggler | 3.25* | 4 |
| 1995 | Danewin | 4.50* | 9 |
| 1995 | Our Maizcay | 4.50* | 14 |
| 1994 | Jeune | 4.00 | 13 |
| 1993 | Naturalism | 3.00 | 4 |
| 1992 | Naturalism | 2.00 | LR |
| 1991 | Shaftesbury Avenue | 2.50 | 12 |
| 1990 | Better Loosen Up | 3.00 | 1 |
| 1989 | Almaarad | 3.75 | 1 |
| 1988 | Our Poetic Prince | 2.25 | 1 |
| 1987 | Rubiton | 2.75 | 1 |
| 1986 | Bonecrusher | 1.90 | 1 |
| 1985 | Drawn | 4.50 | 3 |
| 1984 | Red Anchor | 1.73 | 1 |
| 1983 | Sir Dapper | 4.50* | 5 |
| 1983 | Strawberry Road | 6.50 | 11 |
| 1982 | Kingston Town | 2.75 | 1 |
| 1981 | Kingston Town | 1.67 | 1 |
| 1980 | Kingston Town | 2.50 | 1 |
| 1979 | Dulcify | 2.75 | 1 |
| 1978 | La Mer | 2.75 | 6 |
| 1977 | Luskin Star | 2.75 | 9 |
| 1976 | How Now | 2.75 | 4 |
| 1975 | Wave King | 7.00 | 5 |
| 1974 | Taras Bulba | 3.50 | 2 |
| 1973 | Young Ida | 5.00 | 7 |
| 1972 | Gunsynd | 2.50 | 1 |
| 1971 | Igloo | 3.75 | 2 |
| 1970 | Gay Poss | 2.75 | 6 |
| 1969 | Ben Lomond | 2.75 | 2 |
| 1968 | Rajah Sahib | 2.75 | 1 |
| Year | Favourite | Price | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Tobin Bronze | 1.17 | 1 |
| 1966 | Tobin Bronze | 1.90 | 1 |
| 1965 | Winfreux | 2.38 | 2 |
| 1964 | Strauss | 3.50 | 5 |
| 1963 | Sometime | 2.25 | 3 |
| 1962 | Aquanita | 1.80 | 1 |
| 1961 | Sky High | 1.44 | 3 |
| 1960 | Tulloch | 3.00 | 1 |
| 1959 | Travel Boy | 3.50 | 6 |
| 1958 | Prince Darius | 3.00 | 4 |
| 1957 | Prince Darius | 2.11 | 2 |
| 1956 | Rising Fast | 2.75 | 2 |
| 1955 | Rising Fast | 2.50 | 6 |
| 1954 | Rising Fast | 2.38 | 1 |
| 1953 | Carioca | 3.25 | 5 |
| 1952 | Hydrogen | 2.38 | 1 |
| 1951 | Hydrogen | 2.25 | 2 |
| 1950 | Delta | 2.38 | 5 |
| 1949 | Comic Court | 2.25 | 2 |
| 1948 | Phoibos | 2.50 | 2 |
| 1947 | Royal Gem | 2.75 | 4 |
| 1946 | Flying Duke | 3.50 | 5 |
| 1946 | St. Fairy | 3.00 | 7 |
| 1945 | Lawrence | 1.90 | 4 |
| 1944 | Lawrence | 1.50 | 2 |
| 1943 | Amana | 3.50 | 1 |
| 1942 | Great Britain | 3.25 | 13 |
| 1941 | Beau Vite | 1.33 | 1 |
| 1940 | Beau Vite | 2.75 | 1 |
| 1939 | High Caste | 1.90 | 5 |
| 1938 | Ajax | 1.50 | 1 |
| 1937 | Young Idea | 3.00 | 1 |
| 1936 | Mala | 4.00 | 2 |
| 1935 | Hall Mark | 3.00 | 2 |
| 1934 | Chatham | 3.00 | 1 |
| 1933 | Chatham | 1.53 | 4 |
| 1932 | Chatham | 2.11 | 1 |
| 1931 | Phar Lap | 1.07 | 1 |
| 1930 | Phar Lap | 1.14 | 1 |
| 1929 | Nightmarch | 2.25 | 1 |
| 1928 | Ramulus | 4.00* | 2 |
| 1928 | Amounis | 4.00* | 7 |
| 1927 | Amounis | 4.00* | 1 |
| 1927 | Gothic | 4.00* | 3 |
| 1926 | Heroic | 1.80 | 1 |
| 1925 | Manfred | 1.80 | 1 |
| 1924 | Whittier | 2.50 | 2 |
| 1923 | Easingwold | 2.50 | 1 |
| 1922 | Tangalooma | 2.50 | 6 |