Top 5 Cox Plate Winners

The Cox Plate (2040m) is recognised as Australia’s ‘weight-for-age championship’ and has been won by some of the absolute best over the years. See who made our list of top 5 Cox Plate winners since 2000.

In modern times, the feature race has been taken out by some outstanding gallopers.

Top 5 Cox Plate winners.

1. WINX (2015/16/17/18)

It is impossible not to have Winx on top of this list after her four wins that spanned across 2015-2018. The 2015 win was the fifth in her streak of 33, while she set a record winning margin in the 2016 version, defeating Hartnell by a whopping eight lengths. She showed plenty of tenacity in 2017, holding off Humidor after travelling very wide for the entire trip, while she made it four in 2018, breaking Kingston Town’s long standing record of three wins in the Cox Plate with victory over Benbatl.

2. SO YOU THINK (2009/10)

The last true champion for late trainer, Bart Cummings, So You Think exhilarated with his dominance at the valley in 2009/2010. He could easily have won a third Cox Plate if he wasn’t sold to overseas interests and the gap in comparisons between him and Winx may be a bit closer had he have stayed in Australia. He burst onto the scene by capturing the Cox Plate in 2009 and had a remarkable campaign in the spring of 2010 when he was regarded as a genuine superstar. That culminated with his second Cox Plate win before he headed to the Aiden O’Brien stables in Ireland, defeating some of the best on the world stage by winning a further five Group 1 races, taking his tally to 10 overall.

3. MAKYBE DIVA (2005)

It is just about impossible to split some of these, but Makybe Diva gets the nod just ahead of Northerly and Sunline. While she ‘only’ won one Cox Plate, she did that en route to her third Melbourne Cup (3200m) win in 2005, achieving something that not horse has ever done. The 2005 Cox Plate was a classic edition with a wall of quality horses making their respective runs before the bend at the Valley. But it was the Diva that was too good, prevailing with Glen Boss on board.

4. NORTHERLY (2001/2002)

The fighting tiger’ made his mark in the early 2000s and ended the reign of the Kiwi champion, Sunline, in a thrilling Cox Plate in 2001. He was unbeaten against Sunline and showed what was to come with a thrilling win in the Feehan Stakes (1600m) in the 2001, a key lead up to the Cox Plate. His win in 2001 was slightly controversial with connections of Viscount (3rd) and Sunline (runner-up) both firing protests against him. In 2002, he went on to claim the Cox Plate again, matching Sunline’s efforts of two wins in the weight-for-age championship. His win in the Cox Plate that year came just one week after his win in the Caulfield Cup (2400m).

5. SUNLINE (1999/2000)

The mighty mare ran her rivals ragged as a four-year-old in 1999 but few would have predicted the demolition job she produced in 2000, smashing an elite field by seven lengths. Sunline had an extraordinary record, winning 32 of 48 career starts and would often settle in the lead before upping the ante at the business end, breaking those that would assume the chasing role. She was a two time winner of the Cox Plate (2040m), Doncaster Mile (1600m), Coolmore Classic (1500m), Waikato Sprint (1400m), Memsie Stakes (1400m) and the All Aged Stakes (1400m) while she took out a stirring edition of the Hong Kong Mile (1600m) in the year 2000.

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