Cox Plate 2023: The 2010 race that was almost derailed by Daryl

Legendary trainer Bart Cummings described the scenes at the 2010 Cox Plate as “ridiculous”.

“It’s not a concert, it’s a racetrack,” Cummings said, immediately after So You Think’s second triumph in Moonee Valley’s great race.

A crowd of 31,546 had packed the Valley to watch So You Think beat Zipping, Whobegotyou and Shoot Out, moments after Daryl Braithwaite had the grandstand shaking.

Race caller Bryan Martin, who has called 28 Cox Plates and been to more than 50, had a bird’s-eye view of the front lawn, as the Valley’s chief executive Michael Browell raced to the stage where Braithwaite was singing.

Horses were released from the mounting yard to go onto the track after the nine minutes allotted to Braithwaite to sing his anthem hit The Horses had expired, but screams for more from the crowd had enticed Braithwaite to sing the chorus one more time.

“Just as the horses came through the tunnel, the guitarist started playing again, and the music hit So You Think in the face,” Browell recalled.

“He nearly ended up over the glass wall in the members’ enclosure.

“I think it’s actually made its way into Bart’s book that I ran along the outside of the track, and a Cox Plate race book is pretty thick, from a decent distance, I threw the race book at the head of the bloke who had the controls, and the race book hit him in the back of the head, and he turned around, and I did the hand across the throat to cut the music and that was the end of Braithwaite.”

Of course, it wasn’t though, as Braithwaite returned the following year, developing an affinity with the Valley’s biggest race day.

“They’re all the funny moments you remember,” Martin said.

“It’s always given us an ‘I was there’ moment. That’s the beauty of it, that’s why it’s so special.”

in 2017 when Winx equalled Kingston Town’s record of three straight Cox Plates, a feat Martin said no one thought would be matched when the now hall of fame horse won from a seemingly impossible position in 1982.

Browell then had to find ways to accommodate an extra 6000 in 2018 when Winx returned to triumph for a record fourth time.

Champion jockey Greg Childs said he was acutely conscious of the need to have Sunline relaxed when she went through the quiet tunnel out of the parade ring and onto the course, given the atmosphere at Moonee Valley.

“It was always quite deafening when I used to go out with Sunline,” he said.

“Sunline did get a little bit uptight when she walked through that tunnel and got through to where the crowd was. That’s the uniqueness of Moonee Valley getting out onto the track.

“It’s all about the people, it’s about keeping the people involved. That’s why so many people love the Valley because they can feel they’re a part of it. The excitement when the horses walk through the tunnel and onto the track, things like that get the hairs on the back of the neck standing.”

Saturday is the 103rd Cox Plate and will take place in front of a crowd tipped to be around 21,000. It’s also the third-last running at Moonee Valley in its current configuration, with plans post the 2025 carnival to redevelop the entire course.

The track will be shortened, the winning post will be closer to where the 400-metre mark is now, but Browell says the club is extremely conscious of the need to keep punters within arm’s length of the action.

“The Valley lends itself to the theatre of the race,” he said.

“The horses go past the post for the first time, you’re right on top of them. It’s unique in so many ways.

“We just want to make sure it remains intimate. The design of the new racecourse, the grandstand, the design of the track, we want to make sure we’re able to still reach out and touch the horses, you’re right on top of them.

“The track will be slightly smaller than what it is today … but we’ll make sure the punters on the front lawn and in the grandstand still feel that close connection to the horses.”

Martin said the proposed changes worry many in racing, but so long as the new Valley retains its amphitheatre feel, it can create new memories for racegoers.

“To change it is a bold move,” he said.

“A lot of people are probably anti-change in respect to the way the track races and the way it’s built. That’s what we’ll miss, but I’m sure in time the new track in time will throw up its own idiosyncrasies.

“It’s that Colosseum effect, particularly where we are in the broadcast box.

“It’s very highly elevated, the backdrop is the skylight of the city, and the vantage point was like an eagle’s nest. And the sound at Moonee Valley, particularly on Cox Plate day, the crowd would start roaring.