Cox Plate Now a Two Day Extravaganza

The Moonee Valley Racing Club has announced exciting and innovative plans to stage a two-day Cox Plate Carnival on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 October 2012. The two day racing festival, positioned at the heart of the Spring Racing Carnival, is expected to attract the world's best middle distance and sprinting thoroughbreds and with prizemoney in excess of $6M it will be one of the richest two day carnivals in the world.

The two-day Cox Plate Carnival will feature a new gala Friday night race meeting on 26^th October, highlighted by the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Weight-For-Age over 1200 metres. (The Group 1 Manikato Stakes will be reprogrammed from the Night Racing Season Launch to Cox Plate Eve), and will be ideally placed 15 days prior to the Group 1 Patinack Stakes at Flemington allowing the Club to attract leading international sprinters from Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, USA and Europe to contest this feature Group 1 race. Prizemoney for the Manikato Stakes will be boosted from $500,000 to $750,000.

A total of 17 races will be staged across the Cox Plate Carnival, with minimum prizemoney of $100,000 for the supporting races on the two programs. The programme boasts 9 Black Type races across the Carnival, including:

Cox Plate Eve (8 races):

Group 1 Manikato Stakes Weight-For-Age 1200 metres
Group 2 Crystal Mile Weight-For-Age 1600 metres
Listed Crockett Stakes 3yo Fillies Set Weights & Penalties 1200 metres

Cox Plate Day (9 races):

Group 1 Sportingbet Cox Plate Weight-For-Age 2040 metres
Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup Set Weights and Penalties 2500 metres
Group 2 Vase 3yo Set Weights 2040 metres
Group 2 Fillies Classic 3yo Fillies 1600 metres
Group 3 Tesio Stakes Mares Handicap 1600 metres
Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes 3yo Set Weights 1200 metres





The Group 2 Moir Stakes (Open, Weight-For-Age 1200 metres) will replace the Manikato Stakes as the feature race on the Night Racing Season Launch program (Friday 28 September).

Racing Victoria Chief Executive Rob Hines believes that the two-day Cox Plate Carnival will enhance the Spring Racing Carnival. "The Racing Victoria Board will confirm its support for the two-day Cox Plate Carnival when it meets next month, but we support the concept in principle and we are facilitating approval from the Australian and Asian Pattern Committees to accommodate the programming changes," RV CEO Rob Hines said.

"The proposed change to the Manikato Stakes does enhance our feature sprint programming throughout the Spring Racing Carnival and increases the prospect of attracting international sprinters to Melbourne during this key period.

"We have confidence in the Moonee Valley Racing Club, under the guidance of Track Manager Martin Synan, to provide a suitable racing surface for both meetings."

The gala Cox Plate Eve meeting will allow the Club to showcase its night racing product through the staging of this feature 8 race programme which will commence at 6.45 pm.

Cox Plate Day will be a 9 race program, with the first race at 1:00pm, the Sportingbet Cox Plate will be run at 5:35pm and the last race at 6:20pm. It is proposed that the rail will be in the TRUE position for the Friday night meeting, and if required, moved to the +2 or +3 metre position for Cox Plate Day.

MVRC Chief Executive Michael Browell said he was very conscious of the requirement to present the best possible surface to stage Australasia's showcase Weight- for -Age Championship but expressed full confidence in the Moonee Valley Strath Ayr track to deliver two days of exceptional racing. "The Strath Ayr track at Moonee Valley is an exceptionally resilient surface, allowing the Club to stage 23 race meetings across a 26 week period throughout the Night Racing Season".

It is not unusual for race clubs around the world and indeed Australia to stage consecutive race meetings and this is no more apparent when Royal Ascot stage their prestigious carnival over 5 consecutive days, and the two day Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Carnival. Moonee Valley Racing Club has previously run a highly successful Cox Plate Carnival between 1998 – 2002 with a Thursday night program leading into the Saturday Cox Plate program.



Recent Racing Victoria Limited modelling suggests that by shifting the Manikato Stakes to Friday night and the creation of a new two day Cox Plate Carnival it will deliver an estimated $8M uplift in pari-mutuel and bookmaker turnover. In addition, the two day event will deliver a significant uplift to Moonee Valley Racing Club revenue streams.

The Club has confirmed the international recruitment program for the Sportingbet Cox Plate will continue in 2012. The Club will work closely with Racing Victoria, Leigh Jordon and the International Racing Bureau to identify and attract key international competitors to Melbourne for the $3M Group 1 Australasian Weight-For-Age Championship. Under the MVRC's International Promotion Fund, the Club will meet all expenses incurred for invited Cox Plate runners, as well as a guaranteed $100,000 for non-invited international Cox Plate runners that do not finish in the first 8.

The MVRC will incorporate the barrier draw for the Manikato Stakes with the Cox Plate barrier draw following the Breakfast with the Best gallops at Moonee Valley on Tuesday 23 October.

The MVRC has entered into negotiations with TVN to secure a two-hour free-to-air telecast of the Manikato Stakes meeting. Cox Plate Day is currently shown on Channel 9 throughout Australia.

MVRC Chairman Bob Scarborough confirmed that the Club is fully committed to further promoting the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and a two-day Cox Plate Carnival into key interstate and international markets. "The W S Cox Plate is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Australasian racing, and with this two-day Carnival encompassing the Manikato Stakes and the Sportingbet Cox Plate, Moonee Valley will present a racing carnival that will be appealing to racing enthusiasts around the world."

The MVRC believes that a two-day Cox Plate Carnival is an exciting opportunity to further leverage off the strong Cox Plate brand, and through the implementation of this initiative, the Club is confident that it would provide a strong financial return for the Club, be well received by Industry stakeholders, and provide an added boost to the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

MVRC Release