The Cox Plate
The Tattersalls Cox Plate is known to be the 'Age for Weight Championship' of Australia and attracts Melbourne Cup trainers to enter their runners because of the huge prize fund on offer. The race is run just a couple of weeks before the Melbourne Cup and to most onlookers in Europe it seems a strange Melbourne Cup trial due to the fact it is run over just 8 furlongs.
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The winner of the Tattersalls Cox Plate is exempt from the Melbourne Cup ballot so there is some incentive for those trainers who think they might not make the cut on form alone, plus it's a good little prep race before the real thing a week or two later.
The winner of the 2009 Cox Plate was the Bart Cummings trained two-year-old So You Think who made every yard to win under jockey Glen Boss from Manhattan Rain in second and Zipping in third. As a result, there has been some support for Zipping in the Melbourne Cup betting.
2009 WS Cox Plate Result
| Horse/SP | Draw | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer | |
| 1st | So You Think 12/1 | 7 | 3 | 7-11 | G Boss | B Cummings |
| 2nd | Manhattan Rain 20/1 | 13 | 3 | 7-11 | C Williams | G Waterhouse |
| 3rd | Zipping 11/1 | 2 | 8 | 9-4 | S Arnold | J Sadler |
| 4th | El Segundo 15/1 | 12 | 8 | 9-4 | L Nolen | C Little |
In terms of the Melbourne Cup betting in relation to the Cox Plate, it looks as though the 2007 Melbourne Cup winner Efficient will take his place in the race and although un-fancied in the Plate, he's in warm order with the bookmakers for the Melbourne Cup.
For the latest 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup betting odds click here.
Cox Plate Winners Record in the Melbourne Cup
A bit like the Caulfield Cup, the winner of the Cox Plate isn't necessarily the runner that should be fancied for the Melbourne Cup itself. Only six horses have ever completed the Plate/Cup double and the Cox Plate is seen by many Melbourne Cup trainers to be just a warm up for the big one, with a win of course a huge bonus.
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You can see from the list below that only Makybe Diva went on to run in the Melbourne Cup and she managed to win both.
| Year | Cox Plate Winners | Melbourne Cup Form |
| 2008 | Maldivian | DNR |
| 2007 | El Segundo | DNR |
| 2006 | Fields of Omagh | DNR |
| 2005 | Makybe Diva | 17/5f finished 1st |
| 2004 | Savabeel | DNR |
| 2003 | Fields of Omagh | DNR |
| 2002 | Northerly | DNR |
| 2001 | Northerly | DNR |
| 2000 | Sunline | DNR |
| 1999 | Sunline | DNR |
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