Crowds bring the colour and drama to 2024 Cox Plate
Racing crowds have been soaking up the sunshine and the electric atmosphere at a packed Moonee Valley Racecourse for the Cox Plate.
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Sporting stars and serious racing fans basked in glorious sunshine to cheer home runaway winner Via Sistina in the celebrated Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
One of Australia’s great races, the Cox Plate year in, year out attracts a field of some of the best horses in the land, as well as an appreciative crowd filled with elite achievers from other sporting disciplines.
Olympic gold medallists Shayna Jack and Brianna Throssell, who collected their golden rewards in the pool in Paris, were happy to be out of their togs and sporting sophisticated race wear trackside.
Throssell was stylish in a burnt orange Jason Grech frock while Jack looked stunning in By Johnny pink dress and elaborate hat by milliner Rebecca Share.
“I am still in the pool and the gym and doing pilates to stay healthy and happy,” Jack said.
“I think it would be harder if I took more time off to get back in to a routine when I am ready to go with my next goals. Fingers crossed I can get through the LA Olympics. I am taking time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.”
Throssell was accompanied by her fiance, Josh Milner.
“It is nice spending some time in Melbourne with Joel and his family and I am also spending time in Perth with my family,” Throssell said.
Recently retired champion jockey Damien Oliver, who was honoured with the Kingston Town Greatness Award by the Moonee Valley Racing Club, said he was enjoying life out of the saddle.
“I am enjoying sleeping in and being able to eat anything I want,” he quipped.
Geelong Football Club young gun Ollie Dempsey arrived back in Melbourne on Friday after a post-season break in New York with racing on his mind.
“I got up at 5.45 this morning, got through my running sessions, had them done by 10am and then to the races,” he said, looking sharp in an M. J Bale suit.
“I had to get them done to earn a day out here. I just got back from America last night.”
Actor and presenter Daniel MacPherson was combining two of his passions, horse racing and live TV, as part of the Channel 7 Cox Plate broadcast team. MacPherson is a racing enthusiast who has shares in race horses and breeds thoroughbreds.
“It started out as a hobby and has ended up as a real passion and somewhat of a small business,” he said.
“I can see in life after acting there is a little farm somewhere and breeding horses. I have a few mares and a few foals on the ground this year and it is a side of the industry that I really love.
“I am incredibly fortunate to be able to combine two of my great loves which are live television and thoroughbreds. It does not feel like work when I get to turn up to amazing days like the Cox Plate and work alongside the likes of Bruce McAvaney and Jason Richardson. It is an absolute joy.”
Nathan Buckley was an interested onlooker in the crowd.
Rai Thistlethwayte, of the band Thirsty Merc, got a thumbs up from the crowd for his version of “the valley anthem”, The Horses before the Cox Plate field took to the track.
Fashion influencer Bella Henry, the partner of footballer Bailey Scott, was a stand out in the style stakes in a blush coloured Review frock and simple white headpiece.
Olivia Burke-Lynch, the wife of Richmond player Tom Lynch, turned heads in a Camilla and Marc pant and top teamed with a cowboy inspired hat.
In the Committee Room politicians mingled with racing greats.
Racing Minister Anthony Carbines, Danny Pearson, Michael O’Brien and former Victorian premier Denis Napthine were among the guests, along with Sandy Roberts, Paul Guerra, John Ribot, Kerry Gillespie, James and Monica Cummings, Danny and Nina O’Brien, David Hayes, David Eustace, Moonee Valley CEO Michael Browell and Moonee Valley Racing Club chairman Adam Lennen.
Olympian Shayna Jack to make a splash
After promising her coach she would stay grounded in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, Shayna Jack is excited to embrace horses again.
The swimming gold medallist was at the Ladbrokes Cox Plate on Saturday with her eyes on the Harry Eustace-trained international Docklands.
“I recreationally ride and enjoy being up close with animals,’’ Jack said.
“In Noosa I’ve got a beautiful clydesdale cross thoroughbred and I love him. I originally fell in love with a horse named Keith. I haven’t ridden for two years, there was no risk taking — a deal with my coach. It’s amazing being up close with horses, I truly think that animals have that intellectual sense with people and just can see any healing that you might need and I really do love being with them.”
Jack says it had been a “whirlwind of excitement” since the Paris Games where she achieved sweet redemption after serving a doping ban and fighting to clear her name. Her partner, hockey star Joel Rintala, has since proposed at the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
“I haven’t actually had time to sit and reflect, especially with me, the last five years and everything that’s happened and the rollercoaster ride that I’ve been through,’’ she said.
“For me I’ve been embracing and taking every opportunity that I can because I am someone that believes you don’t know you don’t like something until you try it so I’ve wanted to put myself out there and experience new things.
“And explore myself as a person and who Shayna Jack is. I think that’s really valuable and me being an Olympian and having the amazing accolades that myself and the rest of the team came home with is so phenomenal. But I want people to see me as the person, Shayna Jack, and in a way I want to give back to the community because I wouldn’t be there without them.”
Originally published as Crowds bring the colour and drama to 2024 Cox Plate
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