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The wait is over — the 2025 Cox Plate is here, and it’s shaping up as a tactical war at The Valley!
- Update: No. 5 Globe (7) has officially been scratched from the field on vet’s advice due to a fetlock joint irritation. Click here for the full story.
Chris Waller‘s reigning Australian Racehorse of the year and last year’s eight-length champion, Via Sistina is tipped to atone for her back-to-back losses and return to winning form as the hot favourite in 2025 Ladbrokes Cox Plate betting at The Valley this weekend.
The evergreen eight-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock is one of nine final acceptors taken for Saturday’s Group 1 $6 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) with Australasia’s weight-for-age championship set to light up Moonee Valley Racecourse as the second of the Big 3 spring majors.
Last year Via Sistina stamped herself as one of the best with her historic demolition job over Prognosis when jumping from barrier four of nine.
She’s drawn to repeat the feat from one wider out in barrier five this year with James McDonald sticking aboard the queen who is out to win multiple editions for the first time since the stable’s four-time hero Winx (2015-18).
Via came via a Turnbull Stakes winning lead-up 12 months ago but there is a slight query over her form this time in as she suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since her arrival in Oz at the start of last year.
She was third two back to Mr Brightside in Flemington’s Makybe Diva Stakes and then failed to atone when third again in the Turnbull behind Sir Delius who was subsequently forced to withdraw from both the Cox Plate and $10 million Melbourne Cup on vet’s advice.
It was a tough run in the Turnbull for the mighty mare but the post-race comments from J-Mac suggest she’s going well enough to earn her spot at the top of the Cox Plate odds at $2 through Ladbrokes.com.au.
“I think she’s going well. That tough run will harden her up a bit for the Cox Plate,” he said.
The danger occupying the second line of Cox Plate betting at $3.50 is Tony Gollan‘s Brisbane based marvel Antino.
The son of Redwood has run in the money in both his previous Moonee Valley assignments and has been racing well of late.
Winner of the winter’s Doomben Cup by just shy of four lengths in record time, he’s been working up to his Cox Plate run via solid performances in the Memsie Stakes (5th), Makybe Diva (4th) and the Turnbull (2nd) when he went one better over the line ahead of Via Sistina.
He was rundown by a super horse that day in a run full of merit and without Sir Delius there to beat him, it is easy to see why there’s money coming for Antino to win the Cox Plate from gate six with Blake Shinn continuing associations.
Waller has won the Cox Plate five times and along with Via Sistina the master horseman will also saddle-up two other chances in his bid for a sixth success on Saturday with Aeliana ($7) and Buckaroo ($17) drawn in gates eight and four respectively.
A five-length Australian Derby champion as a filly during the autumn, Aeliana chases her first win since fourth-up and fit on Saturday.
The now four-year-old daughter of Castelvecchio ran out of her skin to place second in the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) fresh in Sydney before also finishing runner-up in the Makybe Diva behind Mr B.
She too had her last lead-up in the Turnbull Stakes running 2.73 lengths back fifth when doing her best work late according to jockey Damian Lane.
“She ran honest,” he said.
“Just lacked a bit of change up speed. When I got clear she travelled through her turn-of-foot, and she was charging late.”
Hugh Bowman, who was aboard Winx for all four of her Cox Plate triumphs, comes aboard Aeliana for the first time in her acid test and Moonee Valley debut.
Buckaroo meanwhile jumps from last year’s Cox Plate winning alley with Mark Zahra, who is riding in terrific form, to partner the in-form seven-year-old.
The gelding has had three top three runs in Group 1 company this prep including a second to Sir Delius in the Underwood Stakes followed by a third in the Might And Power at Caulfield on October 11 where he put in a bit of a one-paced performance.
Anamoe (2022) is the last horse to complete the Might And Power Stakes – Cox Plate double and this year that feat is out to be repeated by Globe.
Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr saddle-up the last start Might And Power champ from barrier seven in the Cox Plate field with Ben Melham booked.
The son of Charm Spirit was enormous winning his Caulfield lead-up by three lengths, but he has to go to another level against Via and co. this weekend.
The other best out of that race, the form of which is still a slight unknown, contesting the Cox Plate in 2025 is the beaten favourite Treasurethe Moment who is at $11 for Saturday.
A boom mare getting plenty of hype in the lead-up to the spring, Matt Laurie’s four-year-old Daughter of Alabama Express was explosive fresh taking out the Group 1 Memsie Stakes by a big margin.
A campaign setback when suffering a bout of colic delayed her second-up run before she went down 1.75 lengths to Pride Of Jenni as the odds-on favourite in the Group 2 Ladbrokes Feehan Stakes in her only other Moonee Valley run to date.
Treasurethe Moment was a little flat failing to quicken the closing stages in the Might And Power but Laurie remains confident in his stable ace who gets the chance to return to her best from barrier one with Damian Lane doing the steering in the big one.
Team Hawkes’ Group 1 winning three-year-old Brutal colt Nepotism ($26) coming via a seventh in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas and dropping to the 49.5kg light weight, Ciaron Maher‘s Australian Cup champ from the autumn Light Infantry Man ($51), and Attrition ($51) who was runner-up to Lindermann in Sydney’s $2 million Hill Stakes at his latest complete the field.
The 2025 Ladbrokes Cox Plate is set to run as Moonee Valley Race 10 at 5:40pm (AEDT) as the last event on the card.
Ladbrokes Cox Plate 2025 Results
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1st
6. Via Sistina (5)
J: James McDonald 57kg
T: Chris Waller |
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2nd
4. Buckaroo (4)
J: Mark Zahra 59kg
T: Chris Waller |
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3rd
7. Treasurethe Moment (1)
J: Damian Lane 55.5kg
T: Matt Laurie |
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4th
3. Attrition (2)
J: Craig Williams 59kg
T: Mitchell Freedman |
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5th
1. Light Infantry Man (8)
J: Ethan Brown 59kg
T: Ciaron Maher |
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6th
8. Aeliana (7)
J: Hugh Bowman 55.5kg
T: Chris Waller |
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7th
9. Nepotism (3)
J: Zac Lloyd 49.5kg
T: M, W & J Hawkes |
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|
8th
2. Antino (6)
J: Blake Shinn 59kg
T: Tony Gollan |
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