"There are four very equal winning chances."

The $6 million Cox Plate takes place this Saturday at the Moonee Valley Racecourse and will be the final Cox Plate at the venue before it undergoes a $220 million redevelopment.

While the Cox Plate has traditionally been a Group 1 with champion fields, Gerard Whateley couldn’t sugar-coat that the 2025 edition “is not a vintage Cox Plate field”.

Speaking to legendary sports broadcaster Bruce McAvaney on SEN’s Whateley, Whateley exclaimed that the Group 1 King Charles III which took place in Sydney at Randwick last Saturday, is keeping top gallopers, such as Mr Brightside, away from the Cox Plate.

This led Whateley to question McAvaney: “Is it a moment of pause for the modern Cox Plate?”

“It’s not vintage,” McAvaney agreed.

“But the nine runners all are Group 1 winners.

“The move by Sydney to go deeper into the spring is hurting the Cox Plate and there’s no question about that.

“Those horses from the King Charles probably would’ve run in the Cox Plate, so that would’ve made a big difference.

“Sir Delius (being scratched) makes a big difference.”

McAvaney went on to admit that the field is actually extremely talented, but the problem is that none of the horses are in their peak form.

“What’s unusual is that it’s actually a very good field but it’s a field of horses that aren’t in very good form,” McAvaney admitted.

“They’re not in their best form – there’s only one last-start winner.

“Eight of the last 10 Cox Plate winners have been last-start winners.

“Globe is the only last-start winner and yet he may not run, and we didn’t think about him until the Might And Power Stakes.

“These three mares that are all special (Via Sistina, Treasurethe Moment & Aeliana) – none of them are in what you would call their best form – they may be just building to it.

“That’s why this race feels a little less than it may be because we could look back at this race in three years and look at the names and think wow.

“But knowing that these horses are not in their cracking form makes a difference.”

On a positive note, McAvaney is confident that the 2025 edition of the Cox Plate could still prove to be a “special” edition.

“Last Saturday I was worried about this Cox Plate, I was thinking, ‘Oh gee, we could only have six runners, and it could be really, really thin’,” he added.

“But now I’m feeling much more optimistic – I do think that we could end up with a special one retrospectively, as much as on the day.

“I just hope on the day it’s a really exciting race and I think it could be – I think jockeys will be forced to make moves in this race and I think that will make the race an incredible spectacle – that’s what I’m hoping for, we all are.”

When asked about which horse could win the $6 million Group 1, McAvaney admitted that he wasn’t confident in his selection.

“Via Sistina is still the obvious (winner),” McAvaney revealed.

“But I think there are four very equal winning chances, they are Antino, Via Sistina, Treasurethe Moment and Aeliana.

“I don’t think there is a lot between them.

“There’s a couple of others that could win – the three-year-old (Nepotism) is always the wild card, he might be good enough.

“Nail to the wall, I’d say Via Sistina but I’m not confident at all.

“It’s very difficult to be confident about this race.”

Via Sistina is the current favourite for the Cox Plate at $2.20 with Sportsbet.

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