No race in Australia can boast a roll call of winners to compare to the WS Cox Plate.
Manfred, Nightmarch, Amounis, Phar Lap, Chatham, Rogilla. Ajax, Beau Vite, Tranquil Star, Flight, Carbon Copy, Delta, Hydrogen, Rising Fast, Redcraze, Noholme, Tulloch, Rising Fast, Tobin Bronze, Gunsynd, Taj Rossi, Surround, Dulcify, Kingston Town, Strawberry Road, Bonecrusher, Rubiton, Better Loosen Up, Super Impose, Saintly, Octagonal, Might And Power, Sunline, Northerly, Fields Of Omagh, Makybe Diva and So You Think - some of the immortals of the Australian turf to win the WFA Championship.
Last year's Cox Plate heroine Pinker Pinker might not be in that exalted class. At Caulfield on Saturday she gets the chance to add a second Group 1 to her résumé when she contests the Futurity Stakes (1400m), a race won by her sire Rest eight years ago.
Bred by Bill Giovas and Craig Gordon, Pinker Pinker was knocked down to trainer Greg Eurell for $120,000 at the 2009 Inglis Premier Yearling sale. It was an inspired selection.from 16 starts the sturdy bay mare has banked $2,515,868from 6 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds from 16 starts.
She is the second foal of the very useful Success Express mare Miss Marion a four time Melbourne winner. Her dam, the stakes-placed Golden Deed (Jevington) is a three-quarter sister to Karrakatta Plate (G1) winner Golden Unicorn.
Last season Pinker Pinker won the Group 2 Angus Armanasco Stakes and Group 3 Matron Stakes before embarking on a campaign in Sydney. She finished fourth in the Vinery Stud Stakes (G1) and third in the Group 1 AJC Australasian Oaks. Back home in Victoria she took the Group 2 Let's Elope Stakes before finishing second to King's Rose in the Group 2 Stock Stakes. She also had to bow to Secret Admirer in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap at Randwick the start before defeating the New Zealand champ Jimmy Choux in the Cox Plate.
Reset has been a quiet achiever for Darley. He has 16 stakes winners to date including two in Britain where he shuttled for a short time.
In an all too short career, Reset claimed the Futurity Stakes (G1) and Australian Guineas (G1), where he defeated Starcraft, before Darley secured him for stud duty.
When he retired to stud in 2004 his fee was $33,000. Last year he stood for half of that at $16,500, which makes him an attractive option for breeders.