It's a one-off Cox Plate at fabulous Flemington, with an extra dose of the intrigue we expect from Australasia’s WFA Championship!
For the first time in 106 years, the great race will take place away from Moonee Valley.
No denying it's going to feel a bit weird, watching the 2026 Cox Plate field thundering around Flemo - but a great race is a great race - it's still the G1 WS Cox Plate, and it's going to be magic!
The Caulfield Cup carnival is history and our attention turns to a field of twelve of the best and brightest, who will contest the MVRC's $6 million dollar showpiece.
Credit to WA's legendary breeder Bob Peters for backing up his star Cosmic Crusader (NZ), a brave fourth as favourite in the Cup after winning the G1 Turnbull in devastating fashion.
The Crusader will be joined by the equally gallant Cup runner up, Saint George (GB) and the ghostly grey will wear blinkers for the first time.
As a West Aussie, I’m a massive fan of Cosmic Crusader. I had him on top in the Cup. I think he can, and very possibly will, win a Cox Plate - but will it be in 2026?
He has all the class and talent required, but it’s been a long and tough campaign. This will be his seventh run, and the last two have been particularly testing.
It's never easy to drop back from the 2400 to 2000m ( though easier at Flemington than the Valley) but rain will be in his favour.
I will be absolutely thrilled to be wrong - but I can't shake the feeling that this might be a run too far for the gifted son of Maurice.
The 2024 / 2025 Cox Plate heroine Via Sistina has gone to stud, and her champion trainer Chris Waller will deploy two leading hopes to give him a third consecutive win in this major of majors - and a seventh overall, which would equal TJ Smith's record.
Waller's top seed Aeliana (NZ) was an unlucky sixth to Via last year. The grand mare went to another level last autumn and is looking to claim her fourth G1.
Waller also saddles up the impressive G1 Underwood Stakes winner Birdman(IRE)
TJ had seven Cox Plates trophies in the cabinet, daughter Gai is still looking for her first. Gai and co-trainer Adrian Bott have their hopes pinned in 2026 on the glamorous Frankel stallion Sir Delius (GB)
Now I love Sir Delius - who doesn't? He's got all the right moves. He was a sale topper by the world's greatest stallion from one of the studbook's great sire-making families. He's a fine looking entire, and arrived here with a flash Euro CV which saw him G1 placed and contesting the Arc at three.
He was straight into action at the highest level once in Australia, and has already won three middle distance G1 WFA races at Flemington, where he remains undefeated.
But you know what? I reckon Aeliana might just be the better racehorse.
Sir Delius won last year's Turnbull and the mare was fifth, but she wasn’t at her best all spring.
On her return she beat all but Autumn Glow in the G1 Verry Elleegant (Delius third) then had the better of him in the G1 Ranvet ( he was third again).
Sir Delius won the G1 Queen Elizabeth which Aeliana did not contest - she next appeared to win the G1 Tancred over Dubai Honour at 2400m - and was immediately installed as early Cox Plate favourite.
Are we slightly over rating his win because Sir Delius beat the champ Autumn Glow, who - as we found out - doesn't run a strong 2000m?
The other factor at play is forecast rain. Aeliana loves it, Sir Delius not so much.
The addition of Land Legend (FR) to the field after his shock 60/1 Might And Power victory is fantastic! The high-revving son of Galileo will ensure a genuinely run Cox Plate, and that's what all racing fans want to see.
Weather fine, winds warm, track good - until race day that is, when the BOM has forecast a 90% chance of 4-20mm of rain through the morning and afternoon, with possible thunderstorms.
Well isn’t that just your classic Melbourne spring carnival forecast.
Let's hope we don't witness expensive millinery flying off heads and marquees going AWOL, or witness the great race run in sheets of driving rain. It will probably be a humid day too - that might affect some horses more than others.
Not too fussed about barriers - with the exception of youngblood Warwoven, who certainly has his chances enhanced from gate 2.
The stage is set for a unique WS Cox Plate! Here's my best guess.
Top Tip: AELIANA (NZ)
I'm convinced that Aeliana is a Cox Plate horse, and now that Via has retired from the scene, another great mare gets her chance to make history.
Aeliana was never quite at her best last spring. Waller kept making noises about the state of her coat….she seemed to be behind the eightball.
I tend to think that she hadn't fully rebounded from her three year old heroics, which were exceptional.
Aeliana is now five, and she should be approaching the peak of her powers right now. She is primed and ready with two excellent WFA lead up runs.
I know we’re not at the Valley - but Aeliana’s pedigree just screams Cox Plate!
Her sire, the G1 Guineas winning Dundeel son Castelvecchio was runner up to the Japanese mare Lys Gracieux in the 2019 edition.
Her dam is by Star Witness, son of Starcraft who was third in Savabeel's Cox Plate - her second dam is a Galileo daughter, and her fourth a daughter of Zabeel, providing for a 4f x 4f duplication of the Cambridge Stud legend.
The arrogant manner in which Aeliana won the G1 AJC Derby was something rarely seen from a filly - in fact she was only the second to win the Classic in the last 35 years, and she bolted in.
That came off a narrow second to elite colt Broadsiding in the G1 Rosehill Guineas, a race won by her sire.
She also just missed winning in the G1 1,000 Guineas in the spring. Aeliana is pure class.
A $180,000 Karaka Book 1 purchase for Denise Marten's Star Thoroughbreds from the Rich Hill Stud draft, Aeliana is closely related to their G1 winning mare Invincibella (I Am Invincible)
This gifted mare will line up for start 22 on Saturday with the record of six wins( 3 x G1), seven seconds ( 5 x G1) and two thirds ( 1 x G1) which have netted connections more than $4.7 million.
Aeliana is bred
4m x 4m Sadlers Wells
4f x 4f Zabeel
She was the second foal and the only stakes winner to date from her placed dam Temolie (Star Witness) - a half sister to G1 Tatts Tiara heroine Invincibella (I Am Invincible), to the excellent stakes placed mile / middle distance mare Secret Blaze, and stakes winning gelding Extreme Flight.
Temolie is domiciled at Rich Hill stud in NZ, where she has produced three younger half sisters to Aeliana by champion sire Proisir.
Summer In Capri was a $250,000 Karaka Book 1 buy for Ciaron Maher Bloodstock / TFI but never raced. She was sold to Kentucky Bloodstock for $100,000 from the Newgate Farm consignment at the year's Inglis Chairman's Sale.
Her younger sister Jessenya is a three year old, and was pounced on by Star Thoroughbreds / Randwick Bloodstock Agency who paid $300,000 for her from Karaka Book 1. Also trained by Waller, she is unplaced from just two starts.
The baby of the family is Temolie's 2024 filly. The mare was rested from breeding last season.
Rich Hill Stud purchased Temolie for $200,000 from Edinburgh Park at the 2021 MM Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale.
Aeliana's granddam Abscond by Galileo was an unraced half sister to G1 VRC Derby placed Light Up Manhattan (Manhattan Rain), out of the winning Zabeel mare Luminata.
Luminata was a half sister to the tough Kiwi stayers The Hind (Adelaide Cup) and Oregon Star ( Geelong Cup) - and was out of the stakes winning mare Taciturn by the great Noble Bijou, from Top Secret.
Top Secret was sired by the fine Never Say Die son Mellay, out of a half sister to Starcraft's second dam Entrancing Belle - by Never Say Die's son Battle- Waggon.
As Aeliana's damsire Star Witness himself descends from a Battle- Waggon daughter, what a great linebreeding pattern this is!
Battle-Wagon's champion son Battle Heights won the 1974 Cox Plate.
Aelina's family (4d ) is prominent in the damlines of Castelvecchio's sire Dundeel and in his fourth dam Flash In The Pan.
Her pedigree features linebreeding to the families of the great matriarchs Eulogy and Chelandry, and to sires Nureyev, Mill Reef, Alycidon and Asterus( all sex balanced).
She carries duplications of Blue Hens Special, Belle Sauvage, Natalma, Nogara and Lady Giselle.
Champion Jockey J-Mac is on an unprecedented Cox Plate streak having ridden the last four winners. He can make it five here, and has piloted Aeliana to two of her three G1 wins.
Aeliana and J Mac go for glory from barrier 10.
Next Best: CEOLWULF (NZ)
The big Wulf! The flagship of Joe Pride's stable is set to tackle his first Cox Plate as a six year old, and boy is he overdue for another big win.
The remarkable son of the ill fated champion Tavistock made his Flemington debut last spring carnival on Champions Day. Who could forget the stirring battle he staged with Pericles on the rain-sodden track to decide the victor of the G1 Champions Mile?
The favourites Mr Brightside, Pride Of Jenni and Treasurethe Moment had all fallen by the wayside in the brutal slogfest. Ceolwulf and Pericles went head for head over the last 400m. Pericles hit the front inside the last furlong. Ceolwulf gritted his teeth and fought back hard. Kiwi toughness! Ceolwulf got up by a nose.
Joe told the waiting media “I’ve thought for a long time he’s the best horse I’ve trained….he’s never travelled away before, but he’s handled it really well and we’ll be back. I’d love to be back here for the Cox Plate.”
It's almost as if Ceowulf overheard this conversation, understood it, and immediately fixated on the idea of this Cox Plate caper, because his form since his first trip away from home has been some of his very best!
Oaks winning sister Soul Sister) and the Australian champion filly Colette. Current star of the turf Beiwacht is another member of Ceowulf's immediate family which is jam-packed with stakes winners and traces back to the Moyglare Stud Stakes / Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Arctique Royale. This branch of family 23 is that of the legendary Euro stayers Ardross and Scorpion, NZ Hall Of Famer Castletown, Dubai World Cup hero Electrocutionist and the beloved Aussie warhorse Zipping!
Let there be no doubt about the superiority of the Classic stamina genes packed into Ceowulf's damline.
Tavistock sired winners of the G1 VRC (twice), ATC, New Zealand, Queensland, Hong Kong and Singapore Derbies as well as an ATC Oaks heroine among his multitude of stakes winners.
Ceolwulf has no inbreeding within five generations.
He is linebred most notably to Nijinsky, Blushing Groom, Bold Ruler, Hail To Reason Forli and Ribot His dam carries sex balanced lines of Alleged's sire Hoist The Flag, and his pedigree brings together the related sires Blushing Groom and Mill Reef.
As well as many duplications of Almahmoud and La Troienne, Ceowulf carries multiple individuals tracing to Honora ( taproot family14f) - the ancestress of Rainbow Quest in Tavistock. Halo's damsire Cosmic Bomb and Riverman's damsire Prince John, (also damsire of Alleged) appear in Ceowulf's dam.
Best mate Chad Schofield stays aboard Ceowulf and any storm clouds descending upon Flemington will hold no fears for them!
The Wulf and Chad will launch from barrier 8.
Roughie: WARWOVEN (AUS)
Far from a roughie, he's challenging for favouritism! but I have to slot him in after the two proven WFA performers.
Those of us who got on the Warwoven bandwagon early have been a little smug lately, because he has proven to be the absolute star we suspected he was. Now it's crunch time, and we'll find out if he is even better than we dared hope.
A pressure Cox Plate, up to 2000m first time, Flemington first time, a potentially rain affected track - there will be absolutely nowhere to hide for Warwoven on Saturday.
So far this prep he has passed every test with flying colours.
Warwoven is the headline act and first G1 winner for Cambridge Stud's exciting young Snitzel son Sword Of State and is a red hot commercial stud prospect in his own right!
Warwoven is bred
Danehill 4m,5m x
Danzig 5m,6m x 5m
His breeding is a delight for pedigree nerds! I have written extensively about it and lack room here, so check out Warwoven’s Breednet Page if you want to take a deep dive into that!
Rachel King on Warwoven will attempt to become the first woman to ride a Cox Plate winner and
I reckon she might have the right weapon to do it.
Warwoven and Rach will go into battle from barrier 2.
Blowout: LIGHT INFANTRY MAN (FR)
How under rated is this unassuming eight year old? There is never any hype or headlines about him, but he just keeps turning up in big races and running well.
Being a dual G1 Australian Cup winner doesn't come with the clout it used to, the landscape has changed.
Go back to the ‘80s, ‘90s and mid 2000s, who was winning it? Bonecrusher, Vo Rogue, Better Loosen Up, Let's Elope, Saintly, Ocky, Dane Ripper, Northerly, Lonhro, Makybe Diva…..
Makybe Diva was the last horse to win both a Cox Plate and Australian Cup, and Light Infantry Man ain’t no Makybe.
But look closer at the record in both races since then, and we see the likes of Australian Cup winners Pompeii Ruler, Zipping, Fiorente and Humidor who all placed ( sometimes repeatedly!) in the Cox Plate. Because we are running the Plate at Flemington that's another little boost to the hopes of Light Infantry Man - he loves the place!
This is one tough, journeyman galloper. Light Infantry Man began his career with a win in GB, contesting the G1 2000 Guineas at his second start.
The David Simcock trained son of Fast Company went to France and claimed consecutive G1 seconds at 1400m /1600m, beaten only by the great Inspiral in the last, before he was on a plane to Australia where he contested the $5million Golden Eagle at Rosehill and was a close up sixth ( as favourite) to the mighty I Wish I Win.
Next thing he's back at Longchamp for a G1 second over 1800m, then at Royal Ascot for a third in the G1 Queen Anne at the mile, over to Deauville for another G1 placing to Inspiral and back in Oz where he flopped badly in the 2023 G1 King Charles. Jet lag does take the edge off!
Light Infantry Man permanently emigrated into the stables of Ciaron Maher, but the elegant chestnut had lost his way a bit. He had travelled so far, tried so hard time after time in the most elite company, and he hadn't cracked it for a win. Horses can get a bit depressed and disheartened, just like humans.
The Man kept on performing honestly though, and Maher was busy figuring out what could turn this ship around.
Success finally came at Listed level, when Light Infantry Man bolted in the Chester Manifold Stakes at Flemington. Two starts later he got his well-deserved G1 in the WFA Northerly Stakes in Perth (1800m), and he was back on his way!
Since then, Light Infantry Man has won two Australian Cups, placed in an All Star Mile and G2 Zipping Classic (2400m) and run second in a G1 Turnbull - his lead up run to this year's Cox Plate. All but one of those performances were at his beloved Flemington.
Light Infantry Man has no inbreeding within five generations
He is the best of three G1 winners among 42 international stakes performers for his deceased sire Fast Company ( IRE), a son of Danehill Dancer who raced only three times at two and was a G1 runner up in the Dewhurst Stakes. Fast Company was a relation of the Aussie G1 winner and sire Charge Forward and the excellent sire Khozaam.
Light Infantry Man's damsire Kyllachy was a brilliant sprinter and sire of sprinters; the son of Pivotal unsurprisingly also a fine getter of quality broodmares.
Light Infantry Man's pedigree brings together Nijinsky and his three quarter brother The Minstrel and the Never Bend sons Mill Reef and Riverman.
His sire is sex balanced to Blue Hen Mixed Marriage (2-f) by Tudor Minstrel, via Atan and Gone West.
Light Infantry Man and Harry Coffey will start their Cox Plate charge from barrier 11.
