Flood of entrants for Plate

No Winx, more cash so numbers soar this year

WINX’S retirement and a record $5 million in prizemoney have prompted local and international trainers to flood the Cox Plate with almost 200 nominations.

Now at stud, Winx dominated every aspect of Australasia’s weight-for-age championship from 2015-18, deterring rivals from both hemispheres during an unsurpassed four-year reign.

In her absence, Valley officials are delighted with 187 nominations, the largest entry since 225 in 2014 — the year before Winx’s staggering rule started. Winx’s dominance saw the entries steadily thin for the Cox Plate, from 173 in 2015 to 135 last year.

This year’s Epsom Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck is among 27 international entries, while current favourite Mystic Journey heads the local entry along with Avilius. Aidan O’Brien, who claimed the Cox Plate in 2014 with Adelaide, has entered 11 horses, including tough Royal Ascot winner Circus Maximus and fellow Group 1 winners Japan and Hermosa.

“To win a Cox Plate, you need a horse with plenty of tactical speed that gets a mile and a quarter well [2000m],” O’Brien told Racing Victoria.

“We have entered 11 horses that we think might suit the race, but of course some of them don’t always progress as well as we were hoping.

“But Anthony Van Dyck and Circus Maximus are two very hardy colts with good tactical speed, and both should handle nice ground.

“It’s probably too early at this stage to say who our number one seed is, we usually nominate a number of horses and then we will see how they progress from now.”