Cox Plate Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2025

The Cox Plate is a Group 1 2,040m race, for 3-year-olds and over, that always takes place before the Flemington Melbourne Cup Spring Carnival, yet after the conclusion of the Caulfield Spring Carnival. First run over 100 years ago, on 28th October 1922, this is a horse race with a long tradition.

Named in honour of the founder of the Moonee Valley Racing Club, William Samuel Cox, the race has attracted not only the best thoroughbreds of Australia and New Zealand but also internationally. It is one of the biggest and most watched Group One races in Australia.

Previous winners have included Anamoe, Phar Lap, Makybe Diva and Kingston Town (1980-1982). The achievement of Winx who was victorious in four consecutive years (2015–2018) is the only four-time winner and many believe is the greatest thoroughbred to have run the race.

The Cox Plate is the key race on what is a jam-packed card, featuring multiple Group 2 and Group 3 races. With so much action happening at Moonee Valley Racecourse, it would come as no surprise to you that it is one of the top tracks in Australia.

Be sure to visit OnlyRacing.com.au closer to the meet on October 25 to see our tips for the Cox Plate. We will provide three tips, including one roughie, so if you like to find some value in the market, we can help out with that! 

Everyone loves free horse racing tips! But these days, every man and their dog are calling themselves “experts” and offering their opinion. We know we don’t get it right every time, but that’s the name of the game.

Our Cox Plate tips are based on cold, hard facts. We take a look at every runner and analyse all key aspects. We also provide general Moonee Valley tips, if you're looking for more than just Cox Plate tips.

The experts here at OnlyRacing have been doing this for a long time (probably longer than they’d like to admit!). While we would love to get cracking on our 2025 Cox Plate tips, we are waiting until race week, when the final field is confirmed.

Seeing that you’re already here, you can check out which runners our expert liked for the 2024 Cox Plate:

Cox Plate Best Bet - Prognosis

Yes, there are some high-quality runners in this one with the likes of Pride Of Jenni, Mr Brightside and more. However, I’ve had my eye on Prognosis for a little while and he is finally racing in Australia, after spending most of his career so far in Japan or Hong Kong. Prognosis is the current narrow favourite with PlayUp, at odds of $3.60.

The kind of form he is bringing in for the Cox Plate is elite, the type of form we saw from last year’s winner Romantic Warrior. That obviously reads well for the race this year. While he doesn’t have the fastest barrier speed and sometimes can miss the jump, his closing speed has to be seen to be believed and if he is close enough, that will probably be good enough.

Cox Plate Next Best - Via Sistina

I can’t believe I’m not tipping Pride Of Jenni or Mr Brightside in this so far, but my next best does go to Via Sistina. We had a little scare on Tuesday during trackwork when the mare threw off James McDonald at Moonee Valley. Trainer Chris Waller said they would evaluate her on race day. 

Despite this, she is one of the favourites to win the Cox Plate and there are no surprises there. If she isn’t scratched, she’ll give Prognosis a real run for his money. Via Sistina is coming off a Group 1 win in the Turnbull Stakes last time out and has also won the Winx Stakes so far this prep. Her first start at the track, but gets a peach of a gate, so she’s a serious chance.

Cox Plate Best Roughie - Mr Brightside

Okay, so not exactly in massive roughie territory here, but we are getting $8.50 for Mr Brightside at the moment. Yes, you read that right! We are talking about one of the best horses going around at the moment and he is $8.50, that just shows how good the field is. Came second by the slimmest of margins in this race last year.

The gelding has had a good prep so far, with the 7YO not finishing worse than second in his last four races (all at Group 1 or Group 2 level). Yes, he’ll need to step things up a notch if he wants to claim victory, but he draws barrier two and should have a very good chance of running in the top three at least. His best is good enough to win this.

There are many different betting apps to choose from if you are thinking about betting on the Cox Plate. With so many to choose from, it makes the decision a little difficult. Which one is best for you? Well, the team at OnlyRacing has developed a simple strategy for deciphering the complex world of picking a bookie. 

At the end of the day, it comes down to two things:

1. Firstly, which bookie is going to offer you the best value for betting with them on feature races such as the Cox Plate race? Things like betting sites bonuses and various betting promotions come into play here. 
2. Secondly, which are your preferred markets or bets that you wish to place on the race.

Different Australian betting sites offer different types of promotions. Some can come in handy when betting on the Cox Plate, so it definitely helps to shop around. You should look to compare the odds for your picks across as many available Australian horse racing betting sites as possible.

To assist you in finding the right bookie for you, we have a bookmaker review page that includes a pros and cons list for every single Australian bookmaker that offers racing markets. Additionally, our bookmaker reviews feature in-depth reviews of specific horse racing betting sites that we care to highlight. 

Some of the best betting apps going around include PlayUp, Midasbet, PalmerBet, Unibet, and Winnersbet, all of which we have detailed reviews on. This means you’ll have all the information available to you when it comes to making a decision on who to bet with. 

Bet on whichever available Australian betting site offers you the best price for your preferred bets on races. The longer you take to find the bookmaker and associated odds, the longer the process will take. Remember, if you’re looking for more recommendations on who to bet with on the Cox Plate, check out our “Betting Sites” section above!

Cox Plate Bet Types

When it comes to any horse race, you’ve got a lot of betting options available to you. You must understand each bet type properly, so you know which one is a good option for you. If you are more of a casual punter, we recommend one of the simpler bet types when you are betting on the Cox Plate.

Check out the full range of bet types available when it comes to betting on the Cox Plate:

At this stage, the field for the 2025 Cox Plate is yet to be announced. There is a process that gets followed each year before the final field is released. Horses need to be nominated and then accepted for the Cox Plate. If you’re looking for some idea of which horses are targeting the Cox Plate, you can scroll down to our “Odds” section where we list all the horses with the shortest odds.

Some of the key dates for the Cox Plate that you should note include:

Please note that as the Cox Plate field has not yet been announced, you will find that the odds in any futures markets will dramatically change in the weeks leading up to the big race. So, if you find some good-looking odds, we recommend getting on it as soon as you can!

We can’t tell you which runners will take part in the 2025 Cox Plate just yet. Instead, take a look at the runners that lined up in 2024:

For the Cox Plate in 2024, we saw a very small field of just nine runners. There were no emergencies listed as well, but this didn’t matter in the end because we didn’t end up seeing any pre-race scratchings. This meant that all nine original runners took their place in the starting barrier.

While there weren’t any scratchings in the 2024 Cox Plate, they are in fact fairly commonplace. There are many different reasons why a horse could be scratched from a race and it can happen at any time before the jump. It’s important to understand that if the horse you bet on gets scratched, you will get your stake back!

When it comes to the final field, something else you should look into is the barrier draw. Certain barriers have seen more success than others over the Cox Plate’s long history. As well as this, the barrier a runner starts from will play a major role in the race tactics deployed by the jockey on the day.

Cox Plate Barrier Draw

We just touched on above about the importance of the barrier draw, so we thought there'd be no better time than the present to go through all the barrier draw stats. Looking at the stats will clearly show which barriers have been more successful over the years, and which barriers runners want to avoid.

Take a squiz at the table below, as we go through the most and least barriers of the Cox Plate from 2000 onwards:

Looking at that data, the connections of runners in the Cox Plate certainly don’t want their runner starting from barriers 1, 2, 10, 12 or 14, as these barriers haven’t seen a single winner since 2000!

Looking at the more successful barriers, on top is barrier 7. Barrier 7 has seen five winners since 2000, which also includes the 2023 Cox Plate winner, Romantic Warrior. Coming in second place is barrier 6, which has seen four wins in recent times, most recently with Sir Dragonet in 2020.

Checking out the Cox Plate form guide is pretty important if you’re going to bet on the race. While you may not have the hours available to scroll through pages and pages of the form of all the runners in the race. Guess what? We do! It’s our job to make it easy for you to bag a winner.

So, we’ve done all the heavy lifting and put together all the key form indicators that are important to know when betting. With a race such as the Cox Plate, there are many years of history and stats to go through. This means some pretty deep patterns emerge. Following patterns could mean you bet on the right horse this Cox Plate.

Let’s take a look at all the key form indicators here:

The Cox Plate is a weight-for-age age, so which age has had the most success? That would be the 4YOs, as they have won the race on 32 occasions, including most recently in Anamoe in 2022. Since 2010, 4YOs have won the Cox Plate seven times.

As you probably already got some indication from the barrier draw table in the section above, the inside half of the barriers (1-7) are the more successful half. A total of 55 winners from the last 85 editions of the Cox Plate have come from barrier 1-7.

There is a distinctly international flavour in the Cox Plate these days and there have been some successful international runners over the years. The likes of Adelaide, Lys Gracieux and State Of Rest have all won the Cox Plate.

When looking all the way back to 1991, only 11 favourites have gone on to win the Cox Plate. However, if you look more recently, runners in the market listed in single figures (as well as favourites) have had some success, this includes in 2024 when Via Sistina won after jumping with odds of $5.00. 

There hasn’t been a Cox Plate winner that jumped with double-digit odds since 2013 with Shamus Award. So, while favourites may not have had a lot of success, the winners of the Cox Plate are usually well found in the market and could very well be on the second or third line of betting.

Most of the Cox Plate winners come into the race in some good form. Look for horses that have finished no lower than third in their lead-up run. In fact, no horse has won the Cox Plate after finishing worse than third in their previous run since 2009 with So You Think.

It’s no secret that the Cox Plate brings out the best of the best runners each year. With a quality field, only the top horses can go on to win the big race. There have been many amazing horses that have won the Cox Plate, and this section is dedicated to them!

We go back through the years and find some of the top horses to ever win the Cox Plate. There have been so many quality winners, but we’ve narrowed it down to just five horses. So, why do you take a look at some of the best Cox Plate horses to ever win the race below:

Kingston Town - 1980-1982

Kingston Town won the Cox Plate three years on the bounce, and in those same three years, he also won the Winx Stakes back-to-back-to-back as well. Kingston Town left such a major mark on the horse racing industry that he even had a Group 1 race named after him, the Kingston Town Classic, until 2022 and then the race name was changed to the Northerly Stakes.

Throughout his entire career, Kingston Town won 12 Group 1 races, including the Cox Plate, which is known as three of his greatest victories. In 1980, he was named Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year, and the T J Smith-trained gelding finished his career with a record of 41:30-5-2.

Northerly - 2001 & 2002

Is there a better middle-distance horse than Northerly? Many consider Northerly to be one of the best racehorses there ever was when it came to middle-distance. The gelding won the Cox Plate twice, in 2001 and again the next year in 2002. 

All in all, Northerly won nine Group 1 races including the Australian Cup (twice), the Underwood Stakes, the Caulfield Cup and the Railway Stakes. In 2002 and 2003, he was named the Australian Middle Distance Champion and also in 2003, he was named the Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year. Throughout his entire career, he made almost $10 million in prize money.

Makybe Diva - 2005

This list of Cox Plate horses just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? Putting aside her 2005 Cox Plate victory for a second, she is the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three times and she is also the only mare to win the race more than once! 

The year she won the Cox Plate she also won the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Cup, the Tancred Stake, the Memsie Stakes and the Turnbull Stakes. Talk about a great year! It’s no surprise that she was named the Australian Racehorse of the Year, the Australian Champion Stayer, the Australian Champion Filly and Mare and the SA Thoroughbred Breeders Horse of the Year, all in 2005.

So You Think - 2009 & 2010

So You Think was a relatively green racehorse coming into the 2009 Cox Plate, with him only racing in four races before contesting the Cox Plate. That didn’t stop him from winning though! Between 2009 and 2010, he only raced a handful more times and contested the 2010 Cox Plate with just nine runs under his belt. Again, the lack of race fitness didn’t worry So You Think, taking out the 2020 as well!

So You Think won a couple of other Australian Group 1s including the Mackinnon Stakes and the Underwood Stakes, before travelling overseas and winning some other major races, like the Eclipse Stakes and the Irish Champion Stakes. In total, So You Think amassed over $10 million in prize money throughout his entire career.

Winx - 2015-2018

In case you were living under a rock between 2015 and 2018, Winx won the Cox Plate four, yes four, times in a row! It wasn’t just that she won the race four times in a row, it was the distance she put between herself and the race of the pack. She was completely dominant in three of her four victories.

Let’s take a look at the distance she was able to win by in each of her Cox Plate victories:

• 2015 - 4.75L
• 2016 - 8L
• 2017 - 0.4L
• 2018 - 2L 

Winx won so many Group 1 races, probably the only notable absence from her resume was the Melbourne Cup, but trainer Chris Waller was never targeting that race for her. In 2018, she tied for the World's Best Racehorse and won the title of the Australian Horse of the Year on four occasions.

It’s important to shop around for the best Cox Plate odds because there could be a difference in price for particular runners at the various bookies. Due to the Cox Plate being a major Group 1 on the Australian racing calendar, you’ll find that the majority of the horse racing betting apps will open betting markets well before the race.

You’ve got lots of choices when it comes to betting on the Cox Plate and you’ll find there are many different horse racing markets available, especially in the week leading up to the big race. We think betting on the Cox Plate as soon as you can is a great idea, especially if the market is “Before Noms” because this means you’ll get your funds back if your horse doesn’t make the final field.

The 2025 Cox Plate odds aren’t available just yet, but you can check where each of the 2024 runners stacked up in the odds here:

*Odds correct as of 24/10/2024.

The Cox Plate has a long history and this means that there are lots of interesting stats and facts to come out of this major race! It's a 2,040-metre race that sees participants from across the globe. More recently, it is known as the race that Winx dominated.

Let’s check out some interesting facts about the Cox Plate:

• The winner gains a ballot exemption from the Melbourne Cup.
• Out-of-state, especially New Zealand horses, have won numerous times but because of World War II travel restrictions between 1942 to 1944, only Victorian entries were allowed.
• The 2013 Cox Plate was a famous victory for Shamus Award. It was a first career win, only entering the race as an emergency when the hot favourite Atlantic Jewel, having just won the Caulfield Stakes, pulled out due to a damaged tendon.
• A Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate double in the same year has been achieved seven times including Phar Lap and Makybe Diva.
• Between 1980 and 1982, Kingston Town won three consecutive Cox Plate races. 
• The most famous winner of all must be Winx who, from 2015 to 2018, won four consecutive races and set the course record for the race twice!
• Many horses have won the race twice including;
  • Phar Lap (1930 & 1931)
  • Beau Vite (1940 & 1941)
  • Tobin Bronze (1966 & 1967)
  • Sunline (1999 & 2000)
  • Northerly (2001 & 2002)
  • So You Think (2009 & 2010)
• Successful jockeys have included five-time winner Darby Munro between 1933 and 1952, four-time winners Hugh Bowman (on Winx) and Jack Purtell between 1950 and 1956.
• If you are looking at successful trainers, T J Smith trained seven winners between 1957 and 1984. Jack Holt had six winners between 1923 and 1947. Most recently, well, of course, Winx, has done Chris Waller proud with four winners and Waller won again in 2024 with Via Sistina, bringing his total to five.

Moonee Valley Racecourse, also known as The Valley, is synonymous with the Cox Plate but also known as the home of Friday night under-lights racing. Together with Caulfield and Flemington it is known as one of Victoria's big three racecourses and plays an equally important role in the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival, one of the biggest horse racing carnivals throughout the year.

The Cox Plate has over a century of history having first been run in 1922 and its timing means the winner gains ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup which runs 10 days later. Every race has been run at Moonee Valley over varying distances but all races have been for stayers. 

The 1922 race started with 9 ½ furlongs (1,911m), the length was increased to 10 furlongs (2,011m) in 1943, then in 1972 with the metric system it was shortened to 2,000m, increased to 2,050m in 1974, before finally settling on 2,040m in 1986.

The Cox Plate is only one of many Group 1 races on the calendar. If you’re looking for tips and other information about another Group 1 or feature race check out our Group One races list. Here we have information about all the Group 1s on the calendar as well as key feature races that don’t have Group 1 status.

So, you’ve probably come to our Cox Plate results section to find out who won the latest edition of the race? Well, you’ve come to the right place! We take you through the finishing order of the entire field, plus a full race replay so you can continue to relive all the action as it happened.

The 2024 Cox Plate was taken out by Via Sistina. It was a completely dominant victory by the mare, with jockey James McDonald celebrating well before the pair crossed the finishing line. The gap to the rest of the field? A mammoth 8L! As the commentators said on the day, it was a Winx-like victory. 

The pre-race favourite, Prognosis, finished in second place and just didn’t have the speed to go with the mighty Via Sistina. Rounding out the final minor placing was Broadsiding, who finished 10L off the pace. In the end, the 2024 Cox Plate was run in a time of 2:01.07 and there was a total of 17.55L that split the entire field.

You can see where the entire field finished in the most recent Cox Plate here:

You’ve read the words, now watch the video! Take a look at the full race replay of the Cox Plate:

Winning the Cox Plate is no easy feat, each year the best of the best step up for their chance at glory. Take a look below at all the recent winners of the Cox Plate (up until 2010):

As a major Group 1 on the Australian racing calendar, it’s no surprise that there’s a heap of prize money on offer. In total there’s a share of $5 million at stake. It is split between the top 10 runners, with the winner getting the lion’s share.

Check out the Cox Plate prize money breakdown below:

If you’ve read all the information on this page and you still have some burning questions about the Cox Plate, then this section is for you! The last section on our Cox Plate page will go through some common FAQs. We hope you find the answers you are looking for below: