International representation for the upcoming Cox Plate has dipped compared to last year, but officials at Moonee Valley Racing Club remain optimistic about the impact of Northern Hemisphere contenders in the 2025 edition of the $6 million race.
This year’s list of nominations features 11 overseas-trained horses, down from 20 in 2024, for what will be the final Cox Plate run on the current Valley track layout. Despite the smaller international contingent, there is still plenty of quality among the 108 total entries.
Four of those entries come from 2014 Cox Plate-winning trainer Aidan O’Brien – Bedtime Story, Whirl, Diego Velazquez, and Mount Kilimanjaro – while his son Joseph O’Brien has nominated two runners. There are also four horses from English-based trainers and one from Japan, Cosmo Kuranda, trained by Shizuya Kato.
MVRC’s head of racing, Charlotte Mills, is encouraged by the range and calibre of global entries, especially with the support of a strong domestic lineup led by defending champion Via Sistina.
“I think the quality of nominations is good and I think there’s also a really strong awareness this year of the quality and depth of our Australian runners in that middle-distance category,” Mills said.
“I think the Cox Plate itself is certainly still very much on the international radar and I’d like to think that the $1 million (prizemoney) increase direct to the winner has also had an impact.”
Over the past six years, internationally-trained gallopers such as Lys Gracieux (2019), State Of Rest (2021), and Romantic Warrior (2023) have all taken out the Cox Plate, while Sir Dragonet (2020) won it first-up after arriving from Europe.
Japanese galloper Prognosis finished second to Via Sistina last year, having used the Group 2 Sapporo Kinen (2000m) as a key lead-up. Mills indicated that Cosmo Kuranda’s participation in that same race on August 17 will determine whether he travels to Melbourne.
Among other potential visitors, Joseph O’Brien has Al Riffa and Galen in the mix for a second Cox Plate victory, while England’s Richard Hannon has entered Haatem and Persica. Brian Meehan has nominated Rashabar, winner of the 2023 Coventry Stakes, and Jessica Harrington could bring Hotazhell, an Irish 2000 Guineas placegetter who recently ran third in the Saratoga Derby.
New to the Waller stable, Trinity College — a last-start Group 1 runner-up in France — has been secured by Yulong and is among the Cox Plate entries.
Al Riffa and Galen also appear in the early entries for the Caulfield Cup, among a dozen international hopefuls in a 146-strong field. Others include Aidan O’Brien’s Mount Kilimanjaro, Willie Mullins pair Absurde and Hipop De Loire, Simon Crisford’s Meydaan, Alessandro Botti’s Presage Nocturne, and Japanese stayers Golden Snap, Struve, and Meiner Chrysola.
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