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McAvaney: Why this Cox Plate field is ânot vintageâ
Connor Scanlon ⹠ October 22nd, 2025 1:25 pm
The $6 million Cox Plate takes place this Saturday at the Moonee Valley Racecourse and will be the final Cox Plate at the venue before it undergoes a $220 million redevelopment.
While the Cox Plate has traditionally been a Group 1 with champion fields, Gerard Whateley couldnât sugar-coat that the 2025 edition âis not a vintage Cox Plate fieldâ.
Speaking to legendary sports broadcaster Bruce McAvaney on SENâs Whateley, Whateley exclaimed that the Group 1 King Charles III which took place in Sydney at Randwick last Saturday, is keeping top gallopers, such as Mr Brightside, away from the Cox Plate.
This led Whateley to question McAvaney: âIs it a moment of pause for the modern Cox Plate?â
âItâs not vintage,â McAvaney agreed.
âBut the nine runners all are Group 1 winners.
âThe move by Sydney to go deeper into the spring is hurting the Cox Plate and thereâs no question about that.
âThose horses from the King Charles probably wouldâve run in the Cox Plate, so that wouldâve made a big difference.
âSir Delius (being scratched) makes a big difference.â
McAvaney went on to admit that the field is actually extremely talented, but the problem is that none of the horses are in their peak form.
âWhatâs unusual is that itâs actually a very good field but itâs a field of horses that arenât in very good form,â McAvaney admitted.
âTheyâre not in their best form â thereâs only one last-start winner.
âEight of the last 10 Cox Plate winners have been last-start winners.
âGlobe is the only last-start winner and yet he may not run, and we didnât think about him until the Might And Power Stakes.
âThese three mares that are all special (Via Sistina, Treasurethe Moment & Aeliana) â none of them are in what you would call their best form â they may be just building to it.
âThatâs why this race feels a little less than it may be because we could look back at this race in three years and look at the names and think wow.
âBut knowing that these horses are not in their cracking form makes a difference.â
On a positive note, McAvaney is confident that the 2025 edition of the Cox Plate could still prove to be a âspecialâ edition.
âLast Saturday I was worried about this Cox Plate, I was thinking, âOh gee, we could only have six runners, and it could be really, really thinâ,â he added.
âBut now Iâm feeling much more optimistic â I do think that we could end up with a special one retrospectively, as much as on the day.
âI just hope on the day itâs a really exciting race and I think it could be â I think jockeys will be forced to make moves in this race and I think that will make the race an incredible spectacle â thatâs what Iâm hoping for, we all are.â
When asked about which horse could win the $6 million Group 1, McAvaney admitted that he wasnât confident in his selection.
âVia Sistina is still the obvious (winner),â McAvaney revealed.
âBut I think there are four very equal winning chances, they are Antino, Via Sistina, Treasurethe Moment and Aeliana.
âI donât think there is a lot between them.
âThereâs a couple of others that could win â the three-year-old (Nepotism) is always the wild card, he might be good enough.
âNail to the wall, Iâd say Via Sistina but Iâm not confident at all.
âItâs very difficult to be confident about this race.â
Via Sistina is the current favourite for the Cox Plate at $2.05 with Sportsbet.
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