Can Royal Symphony join the elite list of 3YO Cox Plate winners?
THE Cox Plate is considered to be the greatest weight-for-age race in the world and it’s typically won by a four-year-old thoroughbred or older, but there have been some champion three-year-olds take the prize.
We only need to turn back to 2013 when Shamus Award won the Cox Plate as a maiden, which poses the question, “Can Royal Symphony beat Winx and become only the fourth three-year-old to win the Cox Plate since Octagonal in 1995?”
All the rage is with champion mare Winx, which is currently $1.15 to win its third consecutive Cox Plate, but Royal Symphony has all the makings to spoil the Winx party at Moonee Valley on Saturday afternoon.
We look at the chances of Royal Symphony pulling off the upset and we remember some of the past three-year-old winners of Cox Plate.
Royal Symphony’s chances of winning the 2017 Cox Plate
Royal Symphony has been the best backed to beat Winx on Saturday, but it’s still an $18 chance at Neds.com.au.
The Tony McEvoy-trained three-year-old is a winner of four from six career starts and not everything went its way in the Guineas Prelude and the Caulfield Guineas.
The son of Domesday finished fourth in both races at Caulfield, but we feel as though the talented colt isn’t suited by Caulfield, which is a horses-for-courses circuit.
Not that Moonee Valley isn’t, but many Cox Plate winners have been able to make sustained runs around the outside and that’s exactly what Royal Symphony has the ability to do.
It showed an incredible turn-of-foot to win the Exford Plate at Flemington by a neck of Eclair Sunshine, but Moonee Valley allows runners to get into their work early and that’s where Royal Symphony could apply the pressure to Winx.
There’s no doubting that Winx will likely be in front of Royal Symphony as they approach the turn and no horse has been able to gun down the champion, but Moonee Valley is a sling-shot track and Royal Symphony will only need a drag into the race to make it interesting.
Royal Symphony is looking to join the elite ranks of So You think, Savabeel and Octagonal as recent three-year-old winners of the Cox Plate, but it has stacks more ability than Shamus Award and it was able to defeat the likes of Green Moon, Fiorente, It’s A Dundeel and Happy Trails.
Royal Symphony is currently the $4.20 favourite at Neds.com.au in the “Winx Out” market.
Shamus Award – 2013
Three-year-old Shamus Award entered the 2013 Cox Plate as a $21 chance with bookmakers after the scratching of Atlantic Jewel, but not many punters thought it would win.
The Danny O’Brien-trained runner hadn’t won from its first nine race day starts and the closest it got to winning was when it finished second in the Bill Stutt Stakes behind Divine Calling.
It did have some quality performances in the Nisson McKenzie Stakes where it finished second behind Cauthen and it ran third in the Caulfield Guineas behind race-rival Long John, but turning the tables on that form and beating the older horses was some feat.
Carrying only 49.5kg made the task easier, much like what Royal Symphony will carry on Saturday, but the win was a complete shock and it will go down as one of the biggest upsets in Australian racing history.
So You Think – 2009
So You Think was a New Zealand colt which should give Royal Symphony punters some added confidence.
The son of High Chaparral entered the 2009 Cox Plate having won only two of its four starts, which included a fifth in the Caulfield Guineas, much like the record of Royal Symphony.
So You Think was in the capable hands of Bart Cummings when it won in 2009 and it was able to lead from the outset and hold off a talented field which featured Zipping, Road To Rock, Whobegotyou and Manhattan Rain.
The 2.5-length win was one of the most dominant in recent history and So You Think would add another Cox Plate title to its resume in 2010 as a four-year-old.
Savabeel – 2004
Savabeel was the last of the recent three-year-old winners of the Cox Plate.
It became the first three-year-old to win since fellow Zabeel progeny Octagonal won in 1995 and many critics were doubting trainer Graeme Rogerson as to why it was lining up in the race.
Savabeel had eight starts prior to its 2004 Cox Plate win which included a win in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes – its only other win apart from its maiden success at Randwick on debut.
Jockey Chris Munce famously wasted to get down to the 49.5kg and that hard work paid off as the New Zealand colt stormed to victory at Moonee Valley.
Surprisingly, Savabeel would line up only seven days later in the Victorian Derby where it finished a credible second.
It wouldn’t win in its subsequent four starts before Rogerson pulled the pin on a short, but eventful racing career.
Savabeel would later become a top stallion in both Australia and New Zealand.