The $5,000,000 Cox Plate is Group 1 weight for age Championship of Australasia at The Valley racecourse run in October during the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Run over 2040m on the tight turning circuit it is a test for agile horse and fearless riders to navigate the sweeping turn out of the straight the first time and balance their equine athletes to relax for what becomes a testing final 600m from “the school”.
The race was named in honour of the Moonee Valley Racing Clubs founder in William Samuel Cox and first run on Saturday 28th October 1922 with a purse of 1000 pounds.
The first running of the Cox Plate was announced by chairman Alister Clark at the conclusion of the 1920-21 AGM when he said, almost as an afterthought