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It will be a strictly local affair for the 2026 Ladbrokes Cox Plate with no international raiders paying the first acceptances fee for the $6 million feature this spring.

Running outside of its traditional home at The Valley and taking place at Flemington Racecourse on October 24, the potential field for the $6 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) has been cut from 103 nominations down to just 57 first acceptors on Tuesday, down from 75 at the same stage last Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

[ltbox text=”There are just 57 horses left in the mix for the 2026 Ladbrokes Cox Plate on October 24 down from 103 at nomination stage!”]

As expected, none of the 15 international entries remain in contention for the Australasian weight-for-age championship.

2026 Ladbrokes Cox Plate First Acceptances at a Glance

• Sir Delius firm favourite at $2.80 through Ladbrokes
• Zero international entries remain
• 19 first acceptors for six-time winning trainer Chris Waller led by Aeliana
• Buckaroo (2nd) and Treasurethe Moment (3rd) the best out of last year’s Cox Plate back for redemption
• VRC Oaks winner Strictly Business the most notable local omission
• 11 three-year-olds remain led by

Last year’s VRC Oaks champion, Strictly Business, meanwhile is one of the more notable local omissions.

Current favourite in the updated 2026 Cox Plate odds at Ladbrokes is the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Sir Delius at $2.80.

The Frankel entire could finally line-up in the Cox Plate field for the first time in 2026 and will come in as a still lightly raced six-year-old.

He has had just 13 starts at time of publish and was last seen securing his third career Group 1 in Sydney’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the 2000m at Randwick during The Championships.

His sole Flemington assignment to date produced a 1.75 length win over subsequent dual Cox Plate champion Via Sistina in last October’s Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) which is why the bookies are taking no chances with him.

Six-time Cox Plate winning trainer Chris Waller, best known for his four-peat with wonder mare Winx, chases another victory to add to his glittering CV and his third on the trot after securing the classic the past two years running with the since retired Via Sistana.

Waller has another strong Cox Plate contingent in 2026 this time heading to HQ with 19 first acceptors led by his Ranvet / Tancred Stakes winning mare from the autumn Aeliana, who is also being kept safe in futures betting on Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday of November.

Aeliana resumed in the Group 1 Winx Stakes finishing dead last to her star stablemate Autumn Glow over the unsuitably short 1400m but still impressing jockey Nash Rawiller doing her best work the final furlong.

She sits on the second line of all-in Cox Plate betting at race sponsor Ladbrokes paying $7 to improve as she gets out over further deeper into her spring prep.

Other standout Cox Plate first acceptors for Waller include stable ace Autumn Glow ($15) who took her record up to 12 wins from 13 starts fresh in an impressive Winx Stakes return, Rosehill Guineas winner Autumn Boy ($15), last year’s runner-up Buckaroo ($26), the winter’s Doomben Cup champ Birdman ($15) who is being kept safe in the early markets and the best fancied of the 11 three-year-olds still in contention Tron Bolt ($26) who won Brisbane’s Group 1 JJ Atkins over the winter.

As well as Buckaroo who was second in the Cox Plate 2025 results, the other best out of last year’s race still in the mix for another shot at the trophy this season is the Matt Laurie-trained mare Treasurethe Moment ($26).

She ran third to Via Sistina to round out the 2025 trifecta, but the five-year-old daughter of Alabama Express could be a serious force this season boasting an impressive Flemington strike-rate.

Treasurethe Moment kicked off her spring with a credible fourth in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 29.

Won in a demolition job by Beiwacht, the Memsie could prove a very strong Cox Plate form race to follow in 2026 and the other standout runners out of that among the Cox Plate first acceptors are evergreen warhorse Mr Brightside (2nd) and Andrea Leek‘s Perth expat Cosmic Crusader (3rd).

Lindsay Park‘s super WFA star Mr Brightside raced first-up as a nine-year-old and ran out of his skin for a Memsie second ahead of a potential fourth Cox Plate bid.

To date, the 10-time winner’s best finish in the event was a second to Romantic Warrior back in 2023 while he missed the event last spring and he’s currently rated $34.

Cosmic Crusader meanwhile won the Group 1 Northerly Stakes over in WA during a standout summer campaign and has been equally as good since transferring to Pakenham with Leek.

He went back-to-back first and second-up at Caulfield in the Bletchingly Stakes and PB Lawrence before eventually meeting his match for a third in the Memsie, but remains a genuine Cox Plate contender at $21.

The other best in pre-field Cox Plate betting include the Joe Pride-trianed four-time Group 1 winning Tavistock gelding Ceolwulf ($11) and the class mare Sheza Alibi ($11) – winner of the Randwick Guineas – Doncaster Mile double as a filly last autumn – for Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman who resumed with a game second in the Winx Stakes and has the $10 million Golden Eagle as her Grand Final for the spring on October 31 at Randwick for which she’s the $1.80 favourite to win.

The 2026 Ladbrokes Cox Plate second acceptances close at 12:00pm on Tuesday September 22.

View the full list of official Cox Plate 2026 first acceptances.

Latest Ladbrokes Cox Plate 2026 Odds