A Cox Plate like no other

The Cox Plate at Flemington won’t be the same as the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley – but that’s the whole point. This Flemington Cox Plate will be unique, as the Valley undergoes major reconstruction ahead of its planned reopening in spring 2027.

One thing will be the same: the biggest weight-for-age stars and their jockeys will line up with the dream of securing their place in racing history.

Moonee Valley and Flemington as racecourses: think chalk and cheese. One is a compact amphitheatre, the other a grand expanse. They are near neighbours, up the road. A Melbourne Cup distance of 3200 metres separates the two. Each has its own distinctive history. Moonee Valley was created by William Samuel (Sam) Cox in 1883 as a privately owned racecourse and later became a club. Flemington, as Melbourne’s premier racecourse, stands on crown land set aside for racing purposes in 1840, with the Victoria Racing Club its proud custodian since 1864. 

Clever Sam Cox seized upon the weekend that separates the Caulfield Cup from Derby Day. He immediately made Moonee Valley Cup Day a high point of the spring. Today it is known simply, and excitingly, as Cox Plate Day. 

The Flemington running of the Cox Plate won’t start at the top of the home straight, as at the Valley. This year, the barrier stalls will fly open at the traditional Cox Plate distance of 2040 metres, just marginally further back than the current 2000-metre mark on the Maribyrnong River side, the usual starting point for VRC Group 1 contests: the TAB Australian Cup in autumn and the TAB Champions Stakes in spring. At the end, it won’t be a short, sharp sprint from the turn as we’re accustomed to with the traditional Moonee Valley layout. Instead, the long Flemington straight will afford all horses the opportunity to hit their peak, and write their name in history.

Right now, the Valley is a building site. Its grandstands have been demolished, giving way to an apartment complex. New stands and facilities are arising on the northern side, while the compact racetrack is being entirely reconfigured. The circumference of the new racetrack will be similar overall, but it will now allow a much longer home straight.

Along with the Cox Plate coming to Flemington for this unique occasion comes the traditional Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup, over 2500 metres and starting in front of the Flemington stands. The Gold Cup is indeed much older than the Cox Plate, dating back to that very first year of Moonee Valley. It has varied in length.

As a staying race, the Moonee Valley Gold Cup has served as a springboard for Melbourne Cup candidates.

Clean Sweep, Blue Spec, Wodalla and Kingston Rule have all won this double in the one year. Dark Felt and Prince Of Penzance won a year before their Melbourne Cup victories, and American a year after his. 

As for the Cox Plate, named in memory of Sam Cox, it began modestly in 1922 as the Valley’s first weight-for-age event. Buoyed by its success, the Moonee Valley committee elevated the race to equal status with the Gold Cup in 1953, surpassing it in the 1970s to become the main attraction.

The Plate’s list of winners is a Who’s Who of Australian thoroughbreds. Even today, many Australian racegoers would recognise historic names from a century past such as Manfred, Heroic, Amounis and Nightmarch. The seal of immortality came when Phar Lap won in 1930, ahead of his Melbourne Cup triumph, and then claimed a second Cox Plate in 1931. Ajax, with 36 career victories, won in 1938. The popular mares Tranquil Star and Flight each won the Plate twice in the wartime era. Since the 1950s, we have revelled in the memories of Hydrogen, Rising Fast, Redcraze and Tulloch.

The Cox Plate continued to measure out champions. There was Tobin Bronze, the grey Gunsynd, Dulcify, Strawberry Road. Kingston Town won three times, which seemed impossible until Winx won four. Bonecrusher defeated Our Waverley Star. There is Better Loosen Up. Saintly. Octagonal. Might And Power. Northerly and Sunline, twice each. Did I mention Makybe Diva in 2005, a racing legend? So You Think. Then the international stars: Romantic Warrior, Adelaide, State of Rest. The long story at what has now become the old Valley circuit was capped by two exceptional victories by Via Sistina. 

Flemington has been called ‘the course of history’. Running the Cox Plate and the Moonee Valley Gold Cup here for 2026 enhances that rich racing heritage. 

Many famous races associated with other courses have been run at Flemington. The Caulfield Cup was staged here for three years during the Second World War – with the 1943 version uniquely run in two equal divisions. Other VATC features at Flemington in that era included the Caulfield Guineas, Futurity Stakes and Oakleigh Plate.

Similarly, the Williamstown Cup, Easter Cup and J.J. Liston Stakes were all run annually at Flemington after Williamstown closed forever, early in the war years. The Easter Cup was rebadged as the Sandown Cup in 1949, and it was run at Flemington in most years until 1961. These ultimately became VATC (Melbourne Racing Club) features at Caulfield and the new Sandown. Strangest of all, the Adelaide Cup (over 2750 metres) and rich Goodwood Handicap were run at Flemington back in 1885 under the auspices of the South Australian Jockey Club. That was all related to politics.

The Cox Plate and the Moonee Valley Gold Cup add to this story as welcome visitors to Flemington. Fifty years ago this year, Surround became the first three-year-old filly to take the Cox Plate, her seventh successive win. That day the race was purposely programmed early on the card. At half past four, the Valley fell strangely dark and quiet as racegoers witnessed a total solar eclipse. There won’t be another full eclipse in Melbourne for another 196 years. Some things are experienced once in a lifetime.