Where Legends are Made

WS Cox Plate Day. Saturday 23 October 2010. Moonee Valley Racecourse. This is the place, and the race, where Legends are Made.

In the years since I photographed my first Cox Plate in 1993, some great horses have won this race. In chronological order, they include Octagonal, Saintly, Might and Power, Sunline (twice), Northerly (twice), Fields of Omagh (twice), Makybe Diva, and last year's winner, So You Think.

The glamorous black (actually, he's not technically black, as in certain lights, he is brown/black, but I like calling him black, there's a certain romantic ring about it!) stallion lined up as an odds on favourite to join Sunline and Northerly and the last horses to win successive Cox Plates (FOO won his Plates in 2003 and 2006). So You Think was coming into the race on an unbeaten campaign, following wins in the Memsie (G2), Underwood (G1) and Caulfield (G1) Stakes. There is no denying that So You Think is a beauty. He's gorgeous, and physically, it's impossible to fault him. He has the most glorious and thick black mane and forelock, a head that is pretty, and he prances and carries on, and of course his coat gleams and shines. I often jokingly say that I hope he will prove to be infertile at stud, so that he can be my next dressage pony, that's how gorgeous this horse is!

He's been ridden this campaign by a new rider, the calm and calculating Steven Arnold, who rides with such poise and dignity. He's beautifully balanced, has great hands and can get horses to settle, which for this horse, is important. And of course he is trained by the master, Mr Bart Cummings, who has been plagued by ill health since April this year, sending tremors through the racing industry. We've gotten so used to him being robustly healthy that he seemed bullet proof, despite his almost 83 years. Mr Cummings has lost a lot of weight, but none of his wit, and certainly non of his skill in preparing horses.

I wanted to do the race differently this year, and knew that the light on the post would be lousy. So I put on my best charming skills, sought out Mr Terry Bailey, the Chief Steward, to get permission to stand along the inside rail just before the home turn. He could see what I wanted to achieve, and said that was ok. Of course if So You Think had been run down by Whobegotyou or Zipping I'd have looked foolish, but I felt pretty certain that this horse was going to produce something special. And special it was.

Nash Rawiller rode his mare More Joyous aggressively from the start. If she was going to go out, she would go out in a blaze of glory, and earn it the hard way. Perhaps in another year she'd have done a Sunline, but the black horse stayed at her girth, and monstered her the whole way. Nash said he broke her heart (not permanently I hope!!!) when he breezed past her around the 800m mark. He put a break on the field, leading around the home turn, and was breathtaking in all his glory as he swept past me. Dear old Zipping chased hard, and ran the race of his life to finish second, and Whobegotyou was also gallant in third place, but really, it was all about the black horse today.

Gaze upon the images, and see for yourself....