IT’S Cox Plate day at the Valley. It’s a day that holds many special memories for me, starting with my first visit in 1975 as a racegoer with some friends.

It was a terribly wet day and the races were washed out, eventually. They probably should not have even started, it was that wet. Cricket was off, so a group of us went to the races.

The only reason the meeting started was due to the Royal visitor, Princess Margaret. She was due to present the trophy for the Cox Plate. Apparently it was so wet the red carpet sank into the mud!

Fury’s Order, ridden by a very young Brent Thompson, splashed his way to victory and 15 minutes after the race, the programme was called off.

My most vivid memory of the day was having to reverse my little Ford Escort out of the car park which, by late afternoon, looked like an overused milking yard!

I missed the Cox Plate for a few years after that, and unfortunately did not see Kingston Town’s three great victories! That included 1982, when another great horse, Manikato, also won on the card. In doing so, they became the first two horses in Australia to win a million dollars each.

By 1983, I was a sports photographer and I haven’t missed a Cox Plate since then. In ’83, I was positioned on the home turn and the race was won by the great Strawberry Road.

Fast forward to 1985, when Rising Prince won, trained by Deidre Stein, the first female trainer to win the race. I was at the finish line and managed to get some good shots in colour. They were never used and virtually lost for years, and then showed up in some old folder.

Never forget

In 1986, everything changed for the Cox Plate and it was a year I will never forget.

I wasn’t rostered to attend but decided to go anyway. I didn’t want to miss the battle between two great New Zealand horses: Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star.

Then the night before the race I received a call telling me I was now required to shoot the whole day, in colour. Our top photographer Bruce Postle had to go to Adelaide for the first Formula One Australian Grand Prix. I was in shock!

When I arrived there was a parcel waiting for me with 20 rolls of film and a note which read ‘Photograph everything!’

It was hectic, with a huge crowd in attendance. Movement anywhere was hard. Moonee Valley is a small track, with minimal crowd space,

The big race not only lived up to the hype, it came to be known as ‘The Race of the Century.’

The big two fought it out from the 800-metre mark. Our Waverley Star led until the last 20 metres when Bonecrusher pounced. I was no more than 15 metres from the finish line.

It was an amazing race, the equal of any I have seen, though I cannot remember any quite like it.

The noise from the crowd for those final 800 metres was deafening! Everyone applauded as the two horses returned to scale.

My photos were splashed all over The Age the next day. Shortly afterwards I was contacted by Bonecrusher’s owner Peter Mitchell.

He commissioned me to create a very large circular framed copy of the race photo, with other pictures around the outside, which we transported to his home in New Zealand.

Another large copy of my Bonecrusher image was on display at the Moonee Valley entrance until around 10 years ago, when it had become faded and damaged.

However, the picture will outlive me as it also part of New Zealand’s official historical archive, which I am proud of.

Major event

From that year on, the Cox Plate grew in stature, from being a small Group 1 race to a major event on the racing calendar.

The only time the noise rivalled that day in 1986 was when Winx won her fourth Cox Plate in 2018, beating the Godolphin runner, Benbatl.

Some other unforgettable Cox Plate memories in the intervening years include 1992, when there was a fall five furlongs out which took out Naturalism and hampered most of the field.

There was more interference in the straight and the first past the post, Super Impose, was demoted and the race awarded to Let’s Elope.

Saintly won a couple of years later, and went on to win the Melbourne Cup. Two years later, Might And Power became only the second horse to win the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate grand slam. Jockey Jim Cassidy gave me a champagne shower as he sprayed the crowd. I was in the way!

Great double

So You Think was another great double winner. Of course he was then transferred to Ireland which upset some racing fans in Australia who felt the horse could have won a third Plate.

Then along came Winx, who rewrote the record books with four wins. I feel privileged to have seen all four and she only had to be pushed out to win all of them! Her race record was unbelievable, 33 consecutive wins!

Last year, like many photographers, I was forced to watch from home. I believe there was no atmosphere, just a few people on the lawn. No crowds or marquees, just nothing.

I am back this year but sadly the crowds must still stay away. Melbourne has been in lockdown for nearly nine months in total since March 2020. Stay-at-home orders are due to be lifted this weekend but too late for the Cox Plate.