The former farm boy from Mudgee was running the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast, having built the showcase sale and racing fortnight up under the guise of co-owners Gerry and Katie Page for years.

Then Godolphin Australia - which now has more than 700 horses and three stud farms - came knocking.

And as Mr Cox reflects this while at the Magic Millions auction sales he used to run: “When an opportunity like that lands on your doorstep you have to consider it very seriously because it is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Still, he never thought he would be casting his gaze out over the desert sands of Dubai, working for its royal family and rubbing shoulders with the horse racing world’s top one per cent.

But he grow up with horses; his father, uncle and grandfather before him were “very keen racing people who bred and raced horses”. A young Vin was “dragged to the track constantly”.

It was slim pickings for him to have a plan B. Conversations around the dinner table were “dominated by horse talk”. It is a wonder he didn’t hear the clopping of hoofs in his sleep.

He still returns to the Central New South Wales family farm where he was raised. His brother runs it and Mr Cox says he has a farmhouse of his own on the property, where he and wife Nicole and their three sons; Harry, Charlie and Will, can “get away from it all”.

As a horse-obsessed teenager, he clutched form guides everywhere he went at boarding school – his version of “the good book”.

“Nearly all of my working life has been in the thoroughbred industry,” he says.

Mr Cox got his professional start at Inglis, the interstate competitor to the Magic Millions, with its own yearling sales, carnival and race days.

He worked his way up at the historic company, founded in 1867, for 15 years before breaking loose and going out on his own.

Then he started Vin Cox Bloodstock in Sydney, where he worked as the lead bloodstock agent for eight years throughout the early-to-mid 2000s.

In 2011 – the first big opportunity came knocking; a new managing director position at the Gold Coast Magic Millions.

In his seven years at the helm of arguably the Gold Coast’s biggest event – Mr Cox helped Magic Millions owners Gerry Harvey and Katie Page turn it into the largest thoroughbred auction business in Australia.

After all, he’s the one who helped launch the $10 million Magic Millions Race Day more than six years ago. It’s about to become a $20m race weekend with a night meet ahead of the main Saturday race day by 2025.

He also negotiated a multimillion-dollar grant with the Queensland Government to back horse racing tourism in the state.

He told the Bulletin in 2021 he still has a “soft spot” for the event he proudly fostered for close to a decade.

“I loved every minute of it, and if I was still in my (Magic Millions) role, I’d still be loving it,” he said.

“I miss it a lot. It’s something that I was so much a part of and thoroughly enjoyed. I get nostalgic about it every time I come here.

“It continues to flourish and is getting bigger and better year after year. Magic Millions ties in well with the rest of the industry but is probably leading from the front.

“It’s a very dynamic firm. The team thinks outside the square. They’re not traditionalists in the true sense of the word. They are all about trying new concepts and attracting new people to the game.”

He still feels the same, reflecting on the event at this week’s yearling sales.

“The function of Magic Millions and its horse sales is really no different anywhere else in the world. Horses are paraded up and down and the transaction gets made. But there’s something about the event’s concoction with the rest of the Gold Coast; its world-class tourism offering, beaches and people that makes it so special.”

Despite his business pedigree, Mr Cox remains humble: “I’m really just a horse guy,” he says.

But if the Magic Millions was a knock at the door, Godolphin Australia was a battering ram.

Imagine getting the phone call from its owner – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.

“He’s quite a relaxed guy, actually,” Vin says.

“At the time (2017) the offer from Godolphin was a personal and professional dilemma and a real crossroads for me. I had personally invested a lot in the Magic Millions.

“But Godolphin, which in Australia alone has 700 horses, seven sites, three stud farms, three training farms and beautiful bloodstock – it really appealed to me.

“It’s not something I thought I would ever have the opportunity to do but when an opportunity like that lands on your doorstep you have to consider it very seriously because it is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

It is only this year Mr Cox has been able to go back to the United Arab Emirates to do what he does best for Godolphin.

“Since the borders have reopened I have been back to Dubai once but we plan to go in March for the Dubai World Cup, a race created by the Sheikh to show off Dubai and his lifelong passion for horse racing and breeding,” Mr Cox says.

Since 2010, the Dubai World Cup has been held at Meydan Racecourse, which showcases an “incredible juxtaposition against the desert in Dubai”.

When asked if his time during lockdown consisted of Zoom calls to the Sheikh in casual dress of t-shirt and thongs, Mr Cox laughs and says “luckily he didn’t have to see me day-to-day”.

“We always meet with the Sheikh personally. There’s a lot of reporting up the line and as far as the day-to-day minutiae, he is not concerned with that.

“The Sheikh is mainly interested in how our absolute elite horses are doing.

“We’ve had a few really good years at Godolphin so thankfully I haven’t had to have any tough conversations yet with the Sheikh”.

Mr Cox’s plans for Godolphin in 2023?

“To win as many races as we can, particularly group one races and keep the machine rolling,” he says.

While there are other horse racing dynasties in Australia (think the Waterhouse family), Mr Cox may just have one of his own.

A ‘Vinasty’ if you will.

Vin’s three sons; Harry, 22, Charlie, 21 and Will, 17 – are all involved with horses.

Harry lives in America, he’s a champion rower but he loves horses.

Charlie, 21, is studying economics at Sydney University but still gets his mates together and sets up racing syndicates.

And Will, the year-12 school captain at The Southport School, works for horse breeders and farms during the school holidays.

“They are all keen on it. They love the business and love the horse world,” he says.

Despite Mr Cox telling Charlie at Magic Millions “you have s**t on your shirt”, you can see he is beaming with pride at his boys.

They too, might one day look at the desert sands of Dubai, thinking, how did I get here?