W S Cox Plate 2024 - Betting, Field, Odds & Tips

The Cox Plate is also run prior to another Group 1 Race and on the same race card,the Manikato Stakes, which along with a host of other Group 2 and Group 3 races provides a fantastic race card.

Some interesting facts about the W S 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 from 1942 to 1944 only Victorian entries were allowed.
• 2013 is famous in Cox Plate history as the race was won by Shamus Award and 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.
• 2023 will be the 102nd year of running of the race but there have already been 102 races, strange, well in 1946 there were 2 Cox Plates run in different divisions. 

The 2023Cox Plate will boast an eye-watering prize pool of $5 million AUD and is regarded as the best Weight for Age race in Australia.The field for the race is expected to be announced on the Tuesday before the race, Tuesday 24th October.

The field is limited to 14 runners plus 4 emergencies.

The prize money for the Cox Plate is somewhat larger than the $1,000 in 1922 and we now have:

An interesting fact is that 6 of the last 10 favourites for the race, have actually won the race.

Although it is too early to know who the runners will be in the race, some interesting facts in trying to pick the winner are that favourites have been successful.Horses currently in the frame to run,including some of their recent high profile wins, are:

Here is a simple strategy for deciphering the complex world of picking a bookie. At the end of the day it comes down to 2 things:

Firstly, which bookie is going to offer you the best value for betting with them on feature races such as the 2023 W S Cox Plate race, bonus bets may come into play here. 

Secondly, which are your preferred markets or bets, that you wish to place on the race.

So you are trying to extract the most profit from your bets, if there are bonus bets on win odds for runners coming 2nd or 3rd or even 4th, then you have some additional cover that could be worth exploring with the compromise of possibly lower odds being available from those bookmakers.

Compare the odds for your picks across as many available Australian horse racing betting sites as you can be bothered with or are already a member. For reference, 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 include feature in-depth reviews of specific bookmakers that we care to highlight. Some of these bookmakers include PlayUp, Midasbet, PalmerBet, Unibet, and Winnersbet, all of which I have included a sneak peak of their pros and cons lists. Be sure to click on any of these tables to visit our full bookmaker reviews.

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.

Another option is to simply bet with whichever bookie you are used to, or rather, most comfortable with. They may or may not offer the best odds, but it is a bookmaker than you know well and you can easily navigate their webpages to place bets.

Mooney 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 the Victoria big 3 racecourses and plays an equally important role in the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival.

Visit our Moonee Valley Racecourse feature length review for important information on the track’s history, biggest races, and differentiating factors in comparison to other esteemed racing venues across Australia.

The Cox Plate has a centenary of history having first been run in 1922 and its timing means the winner gains ballot exemption for the Melbourne 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 (1911m), the length was increased to 10 furlongs (2011m) in 1943, then in 1972 with the metric system it was shortened to 2000m, increased to 2050m in 1974, before finally settling on 2040m in 1986.

A golden period for the race was during the period 1999 to 2005 when the Cox Plate was including in the (now defunct) Emirates World Series Racing Championship, a sort of grand prix of horse racing which included 10 famous races:

• UK – Ascot - King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
• Japan – Tokyo - Japan Cup 
• UAE – Dubai - Dubai World Cup 
• USA – Arlington Heights - Arlington Million
• Hong Kong -Hong Kong Cup
• Canada – Toronto - Canadian International Stakes
• Germany – Baden Baden - Grosser Preis von Baden
• Ireland – Leopardstown - the Irish Champion Stakes
• USA – different racetracks - Breeders' Cup Turf and Breeders' Cup Classic

Favourites have a win percentage of approx. 41% with 43 winners, more recently 6 favourites have won in the last 10 years (others being 1 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd and 1 x 8th) and 10 in this millenium.

A Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate double in the same year has been achieved 7 times including Phar Lap and Makybe Diva

1980 to 1982 was the time of Kingston Town who won 3 consecutive Cox Plate races. But the most famous winner of all must be Winx who, from 2015 to 2018,won 4 consecutive races and set the course record for the race twice!

Many horses have won the race twice, some consecutively, including Phar Lap (1930,1931), Northerly (2001,2002), Beau Vite (1940,4941), Flight (1945,1946), So You Think (2009,2010), Sunline (1999,2000), Tobin Bronze(1966,1967) and Young Idea (1946,1947). Unfortunately,Anamoe has retired so it will not happen again in 2023, James McDonald will be looking for a new ride and James Cummings (whose grandfather Bart Cummings trained consecutive winner So You Think will looking to train another winner.

Successful jockeys have included 5 times winner Darby Munrobetween 1933 and 1952, 4 times winners Hugh Bowman (on Winx) and Jack Purtell between 1950 and 1956.

If you are looking at successful trainers, T J Smith trained 7 winners between 1957 and 1984 plus Jack Holt had 6 winners between 1923 and 1947. Most recently, well of course, Winx will have done Chris Waller proud with 4 winners.

Saturday 28th October 2023 will be an exciting time at Moonee Valley with 2 Group 1 races, The W S Cox Plate and the Manikato Stakes plus 3 Group 2 races, the Crystal Mile, the Moonee Valley Vase and the Moonee Valley Fillies Classic plus Group 3 races in what will be a full race card on the day. Make sure you can get down to track by putting the date in your diary now, Saturday 28th October 2023.