“Kingston Town can’t win.”
Those were the famous words said by Bill Collins in 1982 when ‘The King’ looked in trouble as they cornered for home in the greatest weight for age race in the world.
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‘The Accurate One’, as he was known, was forced to eat his words as Kingston Town came from an impossible position to win his third Cox Plate in a row and stamp himself in Australian racing folklore.
If Kingston Town’s three wins in a row isn’t enough to give you ‘goosebumps’ perhaps the 1986 edition of the Cox Plate is.
In what was the labelled as the race of the century, Bill Collins produced another awe-inspiring call that concluded with one of the best quotes to come from a race track when Bill declared that “Bonecrusher races into equine immortality”. It was only fitting that the ‘race of the century’ was given one of the best calls of the century.
When the two great New Zealanders, Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star took off at the 800-metre mark even the great Bill Collins questioned their decision when he said, “Have they gone too early?”. But the two fought it out the whole way from there until Bonecrusher eventually got the better of Our Waverley Star in the final stages.
There is no doubt that these two sit firmly in racing fans’ memories as the most memorable winners in recent times, but to not look at some of the other great names to have won the prestigious race would be criminal.
Phar Lap who is regarded as Australia’s greatest ever race horse won the race twice. Sunline, So You Think, Makybe Diva, Might and Power, Saintly – we would be here all day trying to name the champions that have won the Cox Plate, and trying to split them would be even harder.
Maybe the best way to honour the winners would be to look at some of the great horses to have failed to win the Cox Plate. Lonhro, Let’s Elope, Bernborough and Miss Finland are just a few names who have failed to salute the judge.
This year’s edition of the Cox Plate looks to be a cracker with a good mix of internationals and home grown heroes. It looks to be one the more open races in recent times with a stack of different form lines giving the punters plenty to think about.
Aidan O’Brien is looking to win his second Cox Plate in a row with Highland Reel after Adelaide won the race emphatically in 2014.
Will another horse ‘race in equine immortality’ on Saturday? Who knows, but it is sure to be another cracking edition of one of the greatest races in the world.
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