Caulfield in box seat to host 2026 Cox Plate as Valley ramps up fixture talks

Caulfield is in the box seat to host the 2026 Cox Plate, with Moonee Valley Racing Club set to ramp up fixture negotiations early in the New Year.

Horses jump from the barriers at the start of the Ladbrokes Cox Plate at Moonee Valley. Picture: Pat Scala / Racing Photos

Caulfield is in the box seat to host the 2026 Cox Plate, with Moonee Valley Racing Club set to ramp up fixture negotiations early in the New Year.

Flemington has been the preferred host, certainly from an industry view, but Victoria Racing Club appears unable to satisfy fundamental Cox Plate requirements.

The MVRC wants to retain the Cox Plate timeslot – the Saturday between Caulfield Cup and Derby Day – and has obligations to major sponsor and naming rights holder Ladbrokes.

The VRC does not want the Cox Plate at Flemington before the Melbourne Cup Carnival to preserve the racecourse for the four biggest days on the Australian racing calendar.

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VRC wagering partner Tabcorp is also reluctant to work with Ladbrokes, whereas Sportsbet, major sponsor of the Melbourne Racing Club, would for a historic Cox Plate at Caulfield.

The MRC only entered the Cox Plate host sweepstakes last month, with chairman John Kanga saying Caulfield was “there to assist” MVRC and RV “in any way it can”.

MVRC head of racing Charlotte Mills said talks remained ongoing with Racing Victoria and clubs.

“We want to be making a decision in conjunction with Racing Victoria around the time of the release of the 2025-26 race dates, as much as it’s not within that scope,” Mills said.

“It’s important to have that planning locked away … the Cox Plate will be at a metropolitan track and that leaves us with Flemington or Caulfield.

“Maintaining the date of the Cox Plate is incredibly important for us, so it will be October 24 in 2026 and that would naturally either follow a Caulfield Cup Carnival or precede a Melbourne Cup Carnival.

“It’s very much a question of track, placement and also alignment with our major sponsor Ladbrokes … maintaining the partnership is incredibly important through that period.”

The 2024 Cox Plate from above.

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The MVRC must re-home its entire schedule from late 2025 through to 2027 with The Valley unavailable due to redevelopment.

The Valley demolition remains “all systems go” to start straight after the 2025 Cox Plate.

The priority now for the MVRC is to lock in the Friday night fixture next summer and hosts for the 2026 Group 2 Australia Stakes and Group 1 William Reid Stakes.

Southside Racing – Cranbourne and Pakenham – is set to absorb the bulk of The Valley’s transferred night fixtures with exception of twilight cards potentially at Geelong.

The Australia Stakes could be run at Cranbourne, with Caulfield set to host the William Reid.

Sandown is expected to play a role also with The Valley’s Saturday metropolitan fixtures.

“The priority at the moment is locking away those transferred race meetings for the 2025-26 calendar, which Racing Victoria will be working on now,” Mills said.

MVRC head of racing Charlotte Mills with UFC-contracted Australian MMA fighter Jack Jenkins at Moonee Valley on December 28. Picture: Vince Caligiuri / Getty Images

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“The greater bulk of those are Friday nights, so we’ll be working closely with Southside on those with some options for other clubs looking at hosting (transferred race meetings).

“We’ve got a number of Saturdays but also the Group 1 William Reid Stakes and Group 2 Australia Stakes during that (2025-26) reallocation period.

“We’d definitely like those locked away very early in this coming year for the sake of planning and to really focus the agreement on how the Cox Plate running elsewhere will pan out.”

Originally published as Caulfield in box seat to host 2026 Cox Plate as Valley ramps up fixture talks