The highly-anticipated Cox Plate 2016 clash between Winx and Hartnell takes place at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Saturday, a full Cox Plate form guide analysis and betting preview for the classic found below.

Yankee Rose is out to become just the second filly to win in Cox Plate history. Photo: Steve Hart.

Set to run as Moonee Valley Race 9 at 5:00pm (AEDT), this season’s $3 million Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) features a final field of 10 hopefuls.

It is the smallest Cox Plate field since So You Think posted his second win on the trot in 2010.

This year another defending Cox Plate champion has nine to beat to score successive victories in Australasia’s weight-for-age championship with the Chris Waller-trained Winx the one to beat.

The darling of the Australian turf, the Street Cry mare annihilated her rivals in the Cox Plate last Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival by nearly five lengths winning for the punters for the first time since So You Think six years earlier.

She looks spot-on to do it again in 2016 from barrier three with Hugh Bowman continuing associations with the firming $2 favourite in Cox Plate odds at Ladbrokes.com.au.

The John O’Shea-trained Turnbull Stakes champ Hartnell at $3.50 is the most likely to lower the flag of the mare everyone is turning out at the Valley to see on Saturday.

He has faced her three times before without success, but he’s right up to the challenge if his recent form is to go by.

The markets say this is a two horse race but what about the Cox Plate form guide, betting facts and statistics?

See below for the must know Cox Plate facts before locking in your trifecta selections online at Ladbrokes.com.au.

2016 Cox Plate Form Facts & Betting Stats

• Last year’s Cox Plate winner was the Chris Waller-trained Winx who came off a win in Sydney’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m), jumped from barrier 1 (of 14) with Hugh Bowman aboard and jumped the short-priced favourite
• #8 Winx ($2) is back looking to successfully defend her Cox Plate title joining So You Think (2009-10) and Northerly (2001-02) as the latest back-to-back winners
• Fields Of Omagh also won the Cox Plate twice in non-successive years (2003 and 2006) in recent history
• This year Winx comes off a Group 1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) win – the double last completed by Ocean Park (2012)

• The only other Caulfield Stakes graduate in the Cox Plate field is the Darren Weir-trained runner-up Black Heart Bart
• Three of the past six Cox Plate winners came off a last-start win; along with Winx the other last-start winners in the race this year are: #3 Hartnell (Group 1 Turnbull Stakes, 2000m, Flemington, 02/10/2016), #4 Hauraki (Group 1 Epsom Handicap, 1600m, Randwick, 01/10/2016), #6 Vadamos (Group 1 Moulin De Longchamp, France, 1600m, 11/09/2016) and #10 Yankee Rose (Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes, 2000m, Randwick, 08/10/2016)
• #3 Hartnell ($3.50) is out to become the first Cox Plate winner to come directly off a Turnbull Stakes run since El Segundo (6^th in 2007); the double was last completed without another run in between by Makybe Diva (2005)
• #4 Hauraki ($19) is out to complete the Epsom Handicap – Cox Plate double achieved by Winx (2015) 12 months ago; the other latest Cox Plate winner coming off a run in the Epsom was Pinker Pinker (2^nd in 2011)
• #6 Vadamos ($14) is out to become just the second Northern Hemisphere-trained Cox Plate winner joining the then Aidan O’Brien-trained Adelaide (2014)
• #10 Yankee Rose ($14) is looking make history as just the second three-year-old filly along with Surround (1976) to win the Cox Plate

• Winx’s trainer Chris Waller (8-1-0-0) is the only previous Cox Plate winning trainer with a runner on Saturday
• Hugh Bowman (6-1-0-0) on the defending champion Winx is the only Cox Plate winning jockey with a ride on the weekend
• No Cox Plate winner has finished worse than third in the past six years; that rules out: #1 Happy Trails, #5 Happy Clapper and #7 Awesome Rock
• Last year’s winning barrier (1) has produced two Cox Plate winners (since 1983) and belongs on Saturday to #10 Yankee Rose
• The last time a barrier produced successive winners was Fields Of Omagh (2007) and El Segundo (2007) who both saluted from gate seven
• The most successful Cox Plate barrier (since 1983) producing five winners is gate six; this year barrier six belongs to #2 Black Heart Bart ($19)

• Along with Winx (2015) the other recent Cox Plate winning mares were Pinker Pinker (2011) and Makybe Diva (2005)
• #8 Winx and #9 Lucia Valentina ($21) are the mares out to beat the boys in this weekend’s Cox Plate
• Four-year-olds have won five of the past six editions of the Cox Plate, there are no 4YOs in the mix this year
• Northerly (2001) for his first was the last five-year-old to win the Cox Plate; #4 Hauraki, #7 Awesome Rock and #8 Winx are out to break the drought for 5YOs on Saturday

• The highest Win Rate of the field belongs to #8 Winx (73%) followed by #10 Yankee Rose (57%) and #6 Vadamos (44%)
• The best Place Rate of the field belongs to #8 Winx (86%) and #10 Yankee Rose (86%) followed by #2 Black Heart Bart (77%)
• Horses with the best record over the distance (2000m) are: #3 Hartnell (8-4-0-1), #9 Lucia Valentina (8-4-1-1), #1 Happy Trails (19-2-3-2), #8 Winx (3-2-0-0), #4 Hauraki (5-1-3-0) and #10 Yankee Rose (1-1-0-0)

• The only previous winners at the track (Moonee Valley) are: #1 Happy Trails (8-1-2-1), #7 Awesome Rock (2-1-0-0) and #8 Winx (1-1-0-0)

Stay tuned to Races.com.au for our exclusive Cox Plate betting tips to be published shortly.

In the meantime check out the full 2016 Cox Plate Form Guide and updated odds at Ladbrokes.com.au.