Grahame Begg has made his ambitions clear — if there’s one trophy missing from his cabinet that he truly covets, it’s the Cox Plate.
The accomplished trainer, known for conditioning 13 Group 1 winners, has had success with sharp sprinter-milers and staying types like the returning Nonconformist and the once Melbourne Cup-bound Lunar Flare. But when it comes to the major Australian races, there’s one that stands above the rest in his eyes.
“Probably a Cox Plate, that’s the one for me,” Begg told Racing.com.
“It’s so hard getting Melbourne Cup horses. We got close with Lunar Flare – she won all the lead-up races but couldn’t get there. It’s damn hard … so I’d say a Cox Plate for me, for sure.”
While Begg might not currently have a clear-cut Cox Plate contender, the depth of talent in his stable is undeniable heading into the spring. Promising runners like Splash Back, Niance, and Zloties have all shown recent potential, with even more talent waiting in the wings.
Among the names to watch is King Zephyr, a colt who’s generated plenty of buzz, though Begg is just as excited about his pool of unraced juveniles.
“We’re very fortunate, we’ve got quite a few. We’ve still got quite high hopes for King Zephyr,” Begg said to Racing.com.
“Don’t worry about him, he just didn’t handle the wet track last start.”
The trainer has been patient with his two-year-olds, having only sent three to the races so far this season, including the impressive maiden winner Biologics.
“We’ve got a lot of young, unraced horses, we’ve only run three two-year-olds all season so far and there’s quite a few which we think have really nice ability,” he added via Racing.com.
