Cox Plate 2026 Final Field: Saint George Among 12 Accepted

Saint George has been accepted for the Cox Plate, giving Ciaron Maher four runners in a 12-horse final field for Saturday’s $6 million weight-for-age feature at Flemington. Caulfield Cup favourite Cosmic Crusader will also back up, while Autumn Boy, Royal Supremacy and Zahrann miss the race.

Updated 7:25pm AEDT, Tuesday 20 October: Barriers have been drawn. Favourite Aeliana will jump from barrier 10, Birdman has the inside gate and Land Legend’s connections used the first pick to choose barrier 12.

Final acceptances for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) closed at midday on Tuesday 20 October with 12 runners named, SEN reported. The race will be run on Saturday 24 October, and barriers were drawn at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

Maher will saddle up Land Legend, Light Infantry Man, Middle Earth and Saint George. Saint George, runner-up to Kingswood in the Caulfield Cup last Saturday, will be ridden by Blake Shinn, while John Allen will ride Middle Earth. Allen replaces Mark Zahra, who will miss the Cox Plate on medical advice following his fall in the Caulfield Cup, Racing.com and 7NEWS reported.

Cosmic Crusader started favourite in the Caulfield Cup and finished fourth. The Andrea Leek-trained Turnbull Stakes winner backs up a week later, with William Pike keeping the ride.

Three-year-olds Warwoven and Blind Raise, first and second in the Caulfield Guineas, will each carry 49.5kg. Aeliana carries 57kg with James McDonald aboard, and the other nine runners have 59kg.

Chris Waller’s Autumn Boy and Maher’s Royal Supremacy and Zahrann were all listed as decisions still to come in Racing.com’s likely fields on Sunday, but none of the three is in the final field. Zac Purton will ride Autumn Boy in the $10 million Golden Eagle instead.

Cox Plate 2026 final field and barriers

The 12 acceptors, with barrier, trainer, jockey and weight, as listed by SEN:

Ceolwulf (barrier 3; trainer Joe Pride; jockey Chad Schofield) 59kg
Light Infantry Man (barrier 11; trainer Ciaron Maher; jockey Harry Coffey) 59kg
Sir Delius (barrier 5; trainer Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott; jockey Craig Williams) 59kg
Attrition (barrier 4; trainer Mitchell Freedman; jockey Jamie Mott) 59kg
Cosmic Crusader (barrier 8; trainer Andrea Leek; jockey William Pike) 59kg
Birdman (barrier 1; trainer Chris Waller; jockey Ben Melham) 59kg
Land Legend (barrier 12; trainer Ciaron Maher; jockey Ethan Brown) 59kg
Middle Earth (barrier 7; trainer Ciaron Maher; jockey John Allen) 59kg
Saint George (barrier 6; trainer Ciaron Maher; jockey Blake Shinn) 59kg
Aeliana (barrier 10; trainer Chris Waller; jockey James McDonald) 57kg
Warwoven (barrier 2; trainer Bjorn Baker; jockey Rachel King) 49.5kg
Blind Raise (barrier 9; trainer Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young; jockey Jamie Melham) 49.5kg

Barrier draw talking points

Might And Power winner Land Legend will jump from the outside gate, with Maher stablemate Light Infantry Man next door in barrier 11, SEN reported. Ceolwulf drew barrier 3 for Joe Pride and Everest-winning jockey Chad Schofield, Sir Delius will jump from 5 and Cosmic Crusader from 8.

Caulfield Guineas one-two Warwoven and Blind Raise drew barriers 2 and 9, while Saint George will start from 6 and Middle Earth from 7.

What happens next

The field is capped at 14 runners plus four emergencies under the Moonee Valley Racing Club’s race conditions, so all 12 acceptors will take their place in the race on Saturday 24 October.

The 106th Cox Plate is the first to be run away from Moonee Valley, which is being redeveloped. Aeliana, Sir Delius and Warwoven were equal favourites at $4.50 when Racenet reported on Sunday, with Ceolwulf next at $5.50.

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