The Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) are delighted to announce 178 horses have nominated for the 103rd running of Australia’s Best Race, the Ladbrokes Cox Plate.
The $5 million Weight-For-Age classic will be staged on Saturday 28 October at The Valley over 2040 metres, where the build-up is set to intensify over the coming weeks as spring aspirants make their anticipated return to the track.
The list of 178 entries includes an astounding 48 individual Group 1 winners, 35 three-year-olds (24 southern hemisphere, 11 northern hemisphere), and 17 international runners, with 65 stables represented.
Headlining nominations is Aidan O’Brien’s star colt Paddington, rated 125, and Danny Shum’s 123-rated Romantic Warrior, who has already confirmed his intentions to run in the Ladbrokes Cox Plate.
Paddington extended his record to seven wins from eight starts last week in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, winning his fourth straight Group 1 race under Ryan Moore. The Ballydoyle stable star will next head to the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York, a race that grants the winner automatic Ladbrokes Cox Plate qualification with flights and expenses paid for.
Last year’s Ladbrokes Cox Plate winning jockey James McDonald will be hoping for back-to-back wins in the race this year with Hong Kong’s champion 2000-metre horse Romantic Warrior. McDonald has ridden Romantic Warrior three times in Hong Kong for three victories, including two of his three Group 1 successes in the Hong Kong Cup and the FWD QEII Cup. Should the Danny Shum trained gelding win the Ladbrokes Cox Plate, he would make history by becoming the first Hong Kong trained runner to win the race.
Of the 2022 Ladbrokes Cox Plate field, six have declared their intentions to contest the race again in 2023. They include El Bodegon, Zaaki, Alligator Blood, Mo’unga, Mr Brightside and Gold Trip. Mr Brightside demonstrated his love for The Valley in the Autumn with victory in The Sharp EIT All-Star Mile, while the 2022 Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip has already been spotted twice at The Valley for track gallops heading into spring and will make his presence felt in any race he contests again this campaign.
Of the 17 internationally trained runners nominated, Irish powerhouse Aidan O’Brien has nine runners entered, while Joseph O’Brien has three. Aidan O’Brien famously became the first international trainer to win the W.S. Cox Plate with Adelaide in 2014, while Joseph followed suit in 2021 with State Of Rest.
Other key international entries include the Simon & Ed Crisford trained West Wind Blows, Charles Hills colt Galeron, My Prospero for William Haggas.
The Autumn Carnival showcased the rise of New Zealand trained gallopers and that is set to continue this Spring with some of the country’s finest thoroughbreds nominating for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate. They include Australian Guineas winner Legarto, New Zealand Derby winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart, Vinery Stud Stakes winner Prowess and New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner Pier. Could one of these four become the first New Zealand trained runner to win the race since Ocean Park in 2012?
The New Zealanders have a rich history in Australia’s Best Race, and kiwi-born trainer Chris Waller added four more Cox Plate victories to their mantlepiece from 2015-2018 with a certified champion in Winx. This year the master trainer has nominated 27 horses for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate, the most of any trainer.
Other Group 1 winners nominated include Alcohol Free, Huetor, Luxembourg, Fangirl, Kovalica, Lindermann, Militarize, Montefilia, Shinzo, Zougotcha, Duais, Fireburn, Think It Over, Alenquer and Amelia’s Jewel.
MVRC CEO Michael Browell, said: “After such a wonderful year in 2022 where we celebrated the Centenary running of the Ladbrokes Cox Plate, won by Anamoe, it is most pleasing to see a large increase in nomination numbers year on year.
“178 total nominations is a return to pre-Covid 2019 and 2020 levels, where numbers rose to beyond 180.
“With a rating of 125, Aidan O’Brien’s Paddington is the highest rated three-year-old in the world and it is great to see his name amongst the nominations, while Danny Shum’s Romantic Warrior will also be one of the highlight horses of the Spring as a 123-rater and multiple Group 1 winner.
“Six runners from the 2022 Ladbrokes Cox Plate could be returning to The Valley in October this year.
“The three-year-old brigade always add great interest, and Chris Waller’s multiple Group 1 winning colt Militarize looks one of the most exciting of his cohort, while Paul Preusker could also have a Ladbrokes Cox Plate contestant with the unbeaten Steparty.
“We now look forward to the build-up to the 2023 Ladbrokes Cox Plate, Australia’s Best Race, where the official countdown will begin on Saturday 9 September with the Group 2 $500,000 Clamms Seafood Feehan Stakes (1600m), the only local Ladbrokes Cox Plate qualifying race.”
