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Important update on 1476AMCox Plate or Melbourne Cup? Bott reveals Sir Delius’ spring plan
Connor Scanlon • April 12th, 2026 5:17 pm
Star import Sir Delius lit the horse racing world on fire when he arrived from the United Kingdom for his first Australian preparation last spring, winning the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) and Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m).
However, his stellar preparation was cut short after Racing Victoria stewards deemed the five-year-old unfit to race in the 2025 Cox Plate (2040m) and Melbourne Cup (3200m) due to being at a “heightened risk of injury”.
Since then, Sir Delius has returned with three runs in the Autumn Racing Carnival, most recently knocking off the formerly undefeated Autumn Glow to win the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
The stallion’s co-trainer, Adrian Bott, joined RSN’s Correct Weight fresh off his Queen Elizabeth victory and announced that the son of Frankel’s autumn is now officially over.
“No (temptation to keep racing this campaign), not this time through,” Gai Waterhouse’s co-trainer revealed.
“We really only wanted to focus on just the three runs this time through and give him a light enough campaign.
“I feel the best thing for him this time would be to have a nice break and not force the (injury) issue too much through keeping him upfront for each carnival.
“He'll go for a spell, and we'll focus on the spring.”
Regarding what Sir Delius’ main target would be in the spring, Bott revealed that the Cox Plate at Flemington will be the five-year-old’s Grand Final.
“We'd love to be targeting a Cox Plate once again with him,” Bott stated.
“We want to give him a big solid build-up through the spring.”
When asked if a Melbourne Cup run is now completely off the table for Sir Delius, given what happened last year, the co-trainer admitted that the $10 million Group 1 is still a possibility.
“I wouldn't say it's completely off the table,” Bott admitted.
“Obviously he profiles as a very different horse now to what he did 12 months ago when being targeted towards the Melbourne Cup, (regarding) how he'd be weighted, having achieved what he's done in the meantime.
“So that may change the way it's looked, the approach to the Cup.
“No firm decision or discussion has been made, so I wouldn't rule it out, but my opinion here on the spot would probably be unlikely.”
Sir Delius is currently the second favourite for the Cox Plate at $4 with Sportsbet behind Autumn Glow, while he is the $7.50 favourite for the Melbourne Cup.
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