A popular result; James McDonald and Anamoe after winning the Centenary running of the W.S. Cox Plate
With the disappointment of no crowds for two years firmly put in our wake, 2022 was a year to remember for the Moonee Valley Racing Club and we finally got to celebrate it in style. First run in 1922, it was the year we marked a Centenary of Australia’s Best Race, the W.S. Cox Plate, and we crowned a new Weight For Age champion in Anamoe. With that, there were also plenty of great supporting acts both human and equine, and making it onto the highlights reel was no easy task.
Here is how I ordered my top five moments of the year…
5. September Run takes the William Reid with the boss on course
The general consensus of September Run coming into the William Reid Stakes this year, was that she simply wasn’t a ‘Moonee Valley horse’. Her best performances to that point had been saved for the Flemington straight, with a Coolmore Stud Stakes victory and a Newmarket placing her claims to fame.
So, to see Chris Waller on course for the first time in nearly three years certainly had us second guessing our assessments. Marabi was the dominant sprinter of the Autumn and was sent out the $1.70 favourite, with September Run a shift on that decimal point, an outsider at $17.
The tactical genius that Craig Williams is, he was able to position September Run midfield with cover, closer than she’d ever been at The Valley, and when Marabi began to weaken upon straightening it was all over. September Run let down with her brilliant sprint to land her second Group 1 win, and Chris Waller was down from Sydney to accept the trophy in the Winner’s Circle. He knew…
4. Francesco Guardi announces himself a future star in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup
The Waller magic didn’t stop on Ladbrokes Cox Plate Day, and this time the market didn’t miss out. Franceso Guardi was most unlucky not to win the Bart Cummings on Turnbull Stakes Day. He took a nosedive 900 metres from home, nearly dislodging Craig Newitt as the pair clipped heels, and then still nearly won the race after being held up at the top of the straight. He had to settle for second place, but there are no doubts he should have won.
It was the ultimate ‘back me next time’, and with James McDonald taking the ride on Cox Plate Day, the punters rallied around him, and he was launched into favouritsm. With clear air and momentum this time around, Francesco Guardi took the lead with 400 metres to go and surged clear for one of the most dominant wins we’ve ever seen in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup. He reversed the order on Lunar Flare, winner of the Bart Cummings, by over four lengths, and had he gone to the Melbourne Cup he would’ve started second favourite. Waller has finally worked him out, he’s a stayer.
3. Rupert McCall’s Ode to the Cox Plate stuns at the Chairman’s W.S. Cox Plate Centenary Dinner
This was the single greatest act I have ever seen live. Rupert McCall, an internationally renowned Australian poet, was invited to the Chairman’s W.S. Cox Plate Centenary Dinner to perform his ‘Ode to the Cox Plate’. He didn’t disappoint.
It was six-and-a-half minutes of sheer and utter brilliance. It made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and as an MVRC staff member, it filled you with great pride to be a part of something so special.
Rupert’s poem talked about the W.S. Cox Plate’s rich 100-year history, going through champion by champion in chronological order, and it left us all stunned. To not only remember a poem that long, but to nail the delivery of it in front of a packed Celebrity Room, had me shaking my head in disbelief.
Here is an entrée with one of the opening lines. The rest of it, you need to go and watch for yourself on YouTube.
“Tell me, William Samuel. God rest your soul in peace. Did you have this stunning vision when you entered in that lease?
“Did you know that every year would write another famous page? Could you see it as the ultimate, in terms of Weight For Age?...”
2. Bella Nipotina gets her Valley redemption with the performance of the Spring in the Manikato
It wouldn’t be The Valley without a bit of drama. The heavens opened on Manikato Stakes night and a huge crack of lightning on course postponed the Group 1 sprint until the next day.
The race was run as Race 11 on Cox Plate Day, and while many connections would have been disappointed by a good track turning into a heavy track, the Bella Nipotina camp certainly weren’t.
The mudlark had twice run second in Group 1 races at The Valley. Held up and unlucky behind Jonker in the 2021 Manikato, and then wide and off the track when still nearly beating stablemate Coolangatta in this year’s Moir Stakes.
The planets aligned, the seas parted, and she made amends in the most destructive fashion, with jockey Craig Williams grinning from ear to ear as he crossed the line in a race of his own.
“Bella Nipotina and boy doesn’t she deserve this!? Bella Nipotina four lengths!”
Perfectly narrated by Matt Hill, Bella Nipotina not only won, but she also posted the ratings performance of the Spring. She ran a 107.0 figure on the Rating Bureau’s Weight For Age Performance Rating, which wasn’t bettered all Spring.
1. Godolphin’s favourite son Anamoe wins the Centenary W.S. Cox Plate
Speaking of redemption, the number one position can go to no other performance than Anamoe in the Centenary edition of Australia’s greatest Weight For Age race. You can argue until the end of time whether he should’ve already been a Cox Plate winner in 2021, bumped by State Of Rest and unsuccessful on protest last year in a decision that could’ve gone either way, but he made amends in the one that mattered most – and stamped himself as a champion.
“Joined by Anamoe who looks destiny in the face…”
A Cox Plate call we’ll never forget. It was almost an early crow by Matt Hill, but Anamoe looked the winner the whole race, and when he took the lead 200 metres from home, we couldn’t contain our excitement either. I’m Thunderstruck flashed home to only be beaten half a length, but Anamoe had won the race and secured the only missing piece on his decorated page.
“But it’s Anamoe clear. I’m Thunderstruck late… Anamoe holding on… Anamoe!
“THIS TIME FOR THE BIG A!”
The Valley erupted, and the grandstand shook for the first time in two years. Favoruite backers rejoiced, and a chorus of cheers echoced throughout the grounds. The Valley roar was back.
It was a first Cox Plate victory for team Godolphin, twice second with Hartnell and Benbatl to the mighty mare Winx. It was also a first for trainer James Cummings, grandson of the legendary Bart Cummings, and a first for the Longines World’s Best Jockey James McDonald.
For Anamoe it was Group 1 win number 7, making him Godolphin’s most successful horse ever. The son of Street Boss boasts Group 1 victories as a two-year-old, three-year-old and four-year-old, and will likely retire to stud and stand on the Darley roster in 2023.