Group 1 TATTERSALL'S Cox Plate (2040m)
 

1 ACTIVATION (NZ) Graeme Rogerson 58
2 BENTLEY BISCUIT Gai Waterhouse 58
3 CARGO CULT Colin & Cindy Alderson 58
4 CASUAL PASS Mathew Ellerton 58
5 EL SEGUNDO (NZ) Colin Little 58
6 FIELDS OF OMAGH David Hayes 58
7 GRAND ZULU Gwenda Markwell 58
8 GREY SWALLOW (IRE) Dale Sutton 58
9 HONOR IN WAR (USA) Paul McGee 58
10 IMPERIAL STRIDE (GB) Saeed Bin Suroor 58
11 LAD OF THE MANOR (NZ) Roger Hoysted 58
12 MOLOTOV Jim Conlan 58
13 OUR SMOKING JOE Lee Freedman 58
14 POLAR BEAR (GB) David Hayes 58
15 ROMAN ARCH Robbie Laing 58
16 SUPER KID (NZ) David Hayes 58
17 TEMPLE HILLS (NZ) Peter G Moody 58
18 UNDUE Shane Clarke 58
19 ZIPPING Graeme Rogerson 58
20 APACHE CAT Greg Eurell 56.5
21 DARCI BRAHMA (NZ) Mark Walker 56.5
22 MAYBE BETTER Brian Mayfield-Smith 56.5
23 POMPEII RULER Mick Price 56.5
24 PRIMUS John O'Shea 56.5
25 RACING TO WIN John O'Shea 56.5
26 RED DAZZLER Mick Price 56.5
27 AQUA D'AMORE Gai Waterhouse 55.5
28 MNEMOSYNE John Hawkes 54
29 REWAAYA (NZ) David Hayes 54
30 SEACHANGE (NZ) Ralph Manning 54
31 CHURCHILL DOWNS David Hayes 48.5
32 DANEVER David Hayes 48.5
33 EXCITES Paul Perry 48.5
34 HE'S NO PIE EATER Graeme Rogerson 48.5
35 ANAMATO David Hayes 46
36 MISS FINLAND David Hayes 46

Current Cox Plate Market (All In)
 

RACING TO WIN 3.00 1.50
EL SEGUNDO 3.30 1.57
GREY SWALLOW 9.00 3.00
LAD OF THE MANOR 11.00 3.50
MISS FINLAND 13.00 4.00
POMPEII RULER 13.00 4.00
RED DAZZLER 15.00 4.50
FIELDS OF OMAGH 21.00 6.00
OUR SMOKING JOE 21.00 6.00
APACHE CAT 26.00 7.25
CASUAL PASS 26.00 7.25
ZIPPING 26.00 7.25
REWAAYA 35.00 9.50
EXCITES 51.00 13.50
PRIMUS 51.00 13.50
SEACHANGE 51.00 13.50
SUPER KID 51.00 13.50
IMPERIAL STRIDE 71.00 18.50
UNDUE 71.00 18.50
AQUA DAMORE 81.00 21.00
BENTLEY BISCUIT 101.00 26.00
CHURCHILL DOWNS 101.00 26.00
DARCI BRAHMA 101.00 26.00
HONOR IN WAR 101.00 26.00
MNEMOSYNE 101.00 26.00
POLAR BEAR 101.00 26.00
ACTIVATION 151.00 38.50
ANAMATO 151.00 38.50
GRAND ZULU 151.00 38.50
ROMAN ARCH 151.00 38.50
CARGO CULT 201.00 51.00
DANEVER 201.00 51.00
MAYBE BETTER 201.00 51.00
MOLOTOV 201.00 51.00
TEMPLE HILLS 201.00 51.00
HES NO PIE EATER 301.00 76.00

36 runners remain! At this point in time main hopes look to be:

Racing To Win
Miss Finland
Casual Pass
Red Dazzler
Excites
Churchill Downs
Grey Swallow
El Segundo
Lad Of The Manor
Pompeii Ruler
and a real bolter - He's No Pie Eater

This batch will no doubt decrease in number once final acceptors are declared.

One thing for sure, Damien Oliver won't have a ride in the Cox!
Will serve a suspension from after Saturday’s Caulfield Cup meeting returning to the saddle on VRC Derby Day!

Cox Plate
 

I've no doubt the current fav Racing The Win will get the distance but handling the other way of going and Moonee Valley are 2 big question marks for me!

For connections sake hope Zipping gets a run in the Caulfield Cup. As the betting suggests MUCH better chance in that than in this.

Surprised El Segundo is so short, most disappointing for mine last start.

Agree 100%

Well I have been on Apache Cat for along time now for this race and with the appointment of one G Childs for this race I am very happy now there would have been only 2 jockeys I would have been happier to see on him Kerrin McEvoy or Brett Prebble so I guess you could say that I have a fairly high opinion of Childs.

if Excites gets into the field he might be a rough chance to and the other I like is Grey Swallow he could simply be alot better than this lot I wouldn't leave him out of anything your doing for the race. The only negative I have heard against Grey Swallow is that he will be 1st up into this race and noone has ever one a Cox Plate 1st up before well guess what guys no mare had won 2 cups in a row and no horse had won 3 cups in a row, History is there to be changed and records are made to be broken.

You guys that are dismissing El Segundo do so at your own peril.

I'm not going into logistics because although it was expected to win easily in the Yalumba,the run WAS NOT as bad as you guys apparently see it.

I had a good bet on it in July @ $11/3.40

I,m more than happy with that,and if you guys who are surprised it's so "short"would like to make me an offer,I'll back it again with you.

Did you ever stop to think WHY it is still well in the market?

My surprise is about Racing to Win being so short.It has never raced in Melb. let alone the tricky MV circuit.It has not won beyond 1600mtrs.

How anyone with half a brain could believe all the media hype around this horse and back it ay such ridiculous odds is beyond me.

El Segundo will win this race.

My only query is the import,Grey Swallow.

Make no mistake,this is a proven quality animal who has been set for this race for some time.They must have faith in his ability to put him into a Cox Playe first up!

Miss Finland a spesh!

El Segundo WILL NOT get past racing to win! Trainer has screwed him this prep IMO.

Shaping up to be one of the weakest Cox Plates I've seen for a while so I'll be having my lunch money on Fields of Omagh - winner this race 2003 & placed 2004 & 2005.

Grey Swallow
 

My main investment for this race so far is the import Grey Swallow.
I agree with another poster that this years race appears to be a bit below par quality wise. If Grey Swallow can capture his northern hemisphere form he should be a little too classy for them. My only doubt is that he has not raced since June!

miss finland
 

who will hayes get to ride miss finland? who can ride at 46kg? I read in the paper that he asked stephen baster but he cant make the weight...and craig said he will need a hacksaw...anyone have any ideas?

i was told this morning it was some female kiwi jockey

Is it linda cropp??

lisa cropp yes.

oh and ill be backing both rtw (which i have already backed so cant get out of that one) and grey swallow, which i think is going to be the value runner on the day.

yeah i think ill be having something on grey swallow and miss finland especially with her light weight...i rekon its gunna be a pretty good cox plate this year.

Lisa Cropp will give Miss Finland every chance, very good jockey ;)
Expect she will race on pace given it's Moonee Valley and the light weight 46kg.

im not convinced miss finland will run out the journey strongly enough to get into the money

Spot on Staggerlee.

Bolted 2 starts ago & just fell in last time.

IMO not seasoned enough to be competitive against ES & RTW.

If she was mine she'd be going to the paddock for a rest now.

I agree. She's barely running out a strong 1600m now. How they think she can compete against the top horses over 2040 (even with a featherweight) is beyond me. Time for a rest and perhaps aim for next year's plate.

..just been announced that CC runner-up Aqua D'’Amore will back-up in Saturday’s Cox..have to be a genuine chance on Saturdays effort!

If Savabeel can win a Cox plate anything can!

you hit the nail right on the head there mv!

OSJ to be ridden by D. Beadman. Certain Starter as just reported on TVN!

will OSJ be able to back up? im not too sure if he can...

Any speculation on the field here guys this is the way I thought it might shape up in no particular order really.

1. El Segundo
2. Racing to Win
3. Fields of Omagh
4. Grey Swallow
5. Honor in War
6. Casual Pass
7. Miss Finland
8. Pompeii Ruler
9. Lad of the Manor
10. Red Dazzler
11. Apache Cat
12. Aqua D'Amore
13. Super Kid (Darci Brahma might be an outside chance aswell as Seachange not sure here)

I think they will use the maximum field not sure if that is 13 or 14 anymore shame they didn't decide to go to this race with Excites not 100% certain he would have gotten into the field but he would be a far better chance of running a good 2000m than Miss Finland in my persoanl opinion.

Lad of the Manor and El Segundo for me at the moment.

I don't know much about the two overseas horses, can anyone shed some light there?

I can also confirm that Our Smoking Joe is in the Cox Plate not sure he has the turn of foot to win this race he just seems to lack that little bit in the big races I personally felt he had every single chance to win on the weekend can't see him winning this either after that.

with this in mind I would drop Super Kid from my original selections and promote Joe to the runners.

Bensley announced the field for the CP on Sky racing news yesterday arvo,can't remember but fairly sure he said there was only 12 runners.
Pocket wise I want ES to win as I backed it in July @ $11w $3 pl,then again @$6w/$2pl.
Savabeel was an exception to the rule ,the best horse usually wins the Cox aided by a good ride by a good jockey.

I got the same odds Go4it ,,,my only early bet for the majors this spring...I was alittle worried about ES after last run but he looked fantastic around Mv the other day.
I'm thinking of backing the Lad aswell...hes another that just loves the surface..
Grey Swallow is interesting,,though he seems to hang around the corners alittle....looks to be coming along nicely.

Had Savabeel clearly (rated) on top in 2004. Made a bundle. No doubts in my mind that the best horse won that year!

Darren Beadman to ride Our Smoking Joe
Kieren Fallon to ride Aqua D'Amore

Cox - Final Field
 

TAB Horse Jockey Barrier Weight
1 Casual Pass N Rawiller 11 58
2 Fields Of Omagh C Williams 7 58
3 Grey Swallow S King 1 58
4 El Segundo D Gauci 10 58
5 Lad Of The Manor D Nikolic 2 58
6 Honor In War S Arnold 13 58
7 Our Smoking Joe D Beadman 5 58
8 Racing To Win G Boss 6 56.5`
9 Apache Cat G Childs 3 56.5
10 Red Dazzler J Cassidy 3 56.5
11 Pompeii Ruler C Newitt 9 56.5
12 Aqua D’Amore K Fallon 8 56.5
13 Miss Finland L Cropp 4 46

Who you got this year? :cool:

COX PLATE (FNL FLD) 28/10
 

Horse Win Place
EL SEGUNDO $3.50 $1.55
RACING TO WIN $3.50 $1.55
GREY SWALLOW $9.00 $2.77
MISS FINLAND $10.00 $3.00
LAD OF THE MANOR $13.00 $3.66
POMPEII RULER $13.00 $3.66
RED DAZZLER $17.00 $4.55
FIELDS OF OMAGH $21.00 $5.44
OUR SMOKING JOE $21.00 $5.44
APACHE CAT $26.00 $6.55
AQUA DAMORE $26.00 $6.55
CASUAL PASS $26.00 $6.55
HONOR IN WAR $101.00 $23.22

Looks to be plenty of value outside the top 2!

Cheda,

What did Savabeel do after the Cox?

It was a fluke win and trhen they started raving how it was worth 10 million,I don't recall it ever winning another race!!

Good luck to you getting it when you did.

IMO this year it's

1) El Segundo

2)Racing to Win

3)Grey Swallow

4)Fields of Omagh