The Ladbrokes Cox Plate will be run at Flemington on Saturday 24 October, the first time the race has been held anywhere other than Moonee Valley, according to the Moonee Valley Racing Club.
It is race 8 on the card, at 5.10pm, Fox Sports reported. Gates open at 10.30am, the first race is at 12.25pm and Michael Paynter sings at 4.40pm, the club says.
This is the 106th Cox Plate, Fox Sports reported, and it keeps its 2040m distance, although Flemington normally runs 2000m.
One Year Away
Moonee Valley closed after the 2025 Cox Plate. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the move to Flemington accommodates the course’s 21-month closure and $250 million rebuild.
A new grandstand will not be ready before 2029, according to the Herald.
Prize money is $6 million, with $4 million to the winner, the Herald reported.
Flemington will operate at half capacity. Valley chairman Adam Lennen suggested a crowd of 35,000 or 40,000, according to the Herald.
The Field
Twelve horses were accepted, SEN reported. In barrier order from the draw on Tuesday 20 October, they are Birdman (1), Warwoven (2), Ceolwulf (3), Attrition (4), Sir Delius (5), Saint George (6), Middle Earth (7), Cosmic Crusader (8), Blind Raise (9), Aeliana (10), Light Infantry Man (11) and Land Legend (12).
Race-morning scratchings could still change that list.
Ciaron Maher trains four of the runners, according to SEN, and John Allen replaces Mark Zahra on Middle Earth.
Under weight-for-age conditions, older males carry 59kg, mares 57kg and three-year-old males 49.5kg, Fox Sports reported. Warwoven and Blind Raise are three-year-olds and carry 49.5kg, according to SEN.
Records in Play
Several records are in play.
A win would let Chris Waller equal Tommy Smith’s record of seven Cox Plates, the Herald reported. James McDonald, who rides Aeliana, needs one more to equal Darby Munro’s record of five.
Waller and McDonald won the past two runnings with Via Sistina.
“To win the last Cox Plate at the old Moonee Valley was something special,” Waller said, according to the Herald.
Gai Waterhouse, who trains Sir Delius with Adrian Bott, and Nat Young, the trainer of Blind Raise, are each trying to become the first female trainer to win the race, the Herald reported.
Rachel King, on Warwoven, or Jamie Melham, on Blind Raise, would be the first female jockey to win it.
Mixed Feelings
The move has its critics.
Joe Pride, who trains Ceolwulf, spoke before flying to Melbourne. “It’s such an iconic race, and it belongs at Moonee Valley. Everyone knows that,” he said, according to the Herald.
“We’re trying to replicate some of that Valley experience at Flemington,” Lennen told the Herald.
For Waterhouse, the difference is in the track, according to the Herald.
“Flemington’s got a much, much, much longer straight, whereas the other was very short and sharp.”
More racing and other sport is in our Sports archive.
Back to the Valley, Eventually
The Moonee Valley Racing Club expects the race to return to the Valley once the redevelopment is complete, which is expected by mid-2027.
Until then, the Cox Plate is at Flemington: race 8, at 5.10pm on Saturday 24 October.
Sources: Moonee Valley Racing Club, “Ladbrokes Cox Plate Hub” (https://www.thevalley.com.au/ladbrokes-cox-plate-carnival); The Sydney Morning Herald, “Track tensions, the Valley roar, and Daryl Braithwaite’s Horses: The mixed emotions behind Cox Plate’s Flemington move”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.smh.com.au/sport/racing/track-tensions-the-valley-roar-and-daryl-braithwaite-s-horses-the-mixed-emotions-behind-cox-plate-s-flemington-move-20261023-p6170a.html); SEN, “Barrier draw and final field for Flemington’s Cox Plate” (https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/19/cox-plate-2026-horses-flemington-favourite-field-barrier-draw); Fox Sports, “Cox Plate form guide: One-time only move for Australia’s best race… and our expert’s $23 tip to win”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.foxsports.com.au/horse-racing/cox-plate-2026-form-guide-tips-predictions-horses-start-time-betting-odds-favourite-predicted-first-4-and-analysis/news-story/06059fe1d858e9a9e9cf23347b9fa33b)
Photo: Bob T, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Flemington Racecourse from the air in August 2018, with the grandstand and mounting yard at right.
