Irish galloper Adelaide has ensured another triumph for international horses during the Melbourne spring carnival with a stirring win in the WS Cox Plate.
A week after Admire Rakti’s Caulfield Cup triumph for Japan, Adelaide came from last to beat Australia’s weight-for-age stars at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Adelaide, Cox Plate 2014 – Photo by Sarah Ebbett
Trained by the Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien and ridden by English hoop Ryan Moore, Adelaide had to produce a 1000-metre run to chase down Fawkner.
“He is a very good horse because he has done it the hard way,” Moore said.
“From what I have seen of the Plate it’s tricky, but usually the best horse wins, and the best horse sometimes has to do it a bit tougher.
“Things were against him but he got the job done.
“This horse has shown what a good colt he is, he’s been around the world all year and has come down to Australia to round it off.
Adelaide started at $8 and came into the race quickly from the 600m.
He was the deepest horse into the straight before getting the better of the favourite Fawkner ($4.40).
New Zealand mare Silent Achiever ($26) returned to form to grab the minor placing.
The race was run at a ferocious tempo after it took expected leader The Cleaner 800m to find his favoured front-running role.
The Cleaner tried to extend his margin at the 800m but he was swamped before the home turn as Adelaide went with two-tenths of a second of the race record.
