25/10/2025-Moonee Valley-Cox Plate (2040m)

The Cox Plate is widely regarded as Australasia’s premier weight-for-age race, and many consider it the purest test of championship quality. Run over 2040 metres at The Valley since 1922, the race rewards balance, acceleration, tactical awareness and the ability to handle pressure around one of the tightest and most idiosyncratic circuits in world racing. It is a race that relentlessly exposes weaknesses and elevates greatness.

Across a century of competition, the Cox Plate has produced champions that define eras. Names like Phar Lap, Tulloch, Kingston Town, Bonecrusher, Sunline, So You Think and Winx have built the aura of the race. Winx in particular transformed the Cox Plate into a global spectacle, winning it four times in succession and producing performances that reshaped the ceiling of Australian racing.

The race has evolved into an international attraction, with major contenders from Japan, Europe, New Zealand and Hong Kong regularly targeting the event. The weight-for-age conditions and the prestige of the Moonee Valley amphitheatre have made it one of the most sought-after middle-distance trophies in the world.

The Cox Plate is also the race that punters and horse people most often describe as the one they want to win. It carries a mystique and purity that few other races match. . Every October, the Cox Plate remains the standard by which champions are measured.

The 2025 edition of the Cox Plate is the last in the original layout of the track. The course will be ripped up and realigned, with the infamously short straight (173m) extended to in excess of 300m as a result of the renovation. The 2026 Cox Plate will be run at Flemington before returning to The Valley in 2027.

Recent winners:

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