Ceolwulf has been locked in for the Cox Plate at Flemington, joining a likely field headed by Aeliana, Sir Delius and Caulfield Guineas winner Warwoven. Caulfield Cup runners Cosmic Crusader and Saint George are among the horses still awaiting a decision before final acceptances close on Tuesday.
Trainer Joe Pride confirmed the Sydney star will accept for the $6 million Group 1 (2040m) on Saturday 24 October, Racenet reported. Ceolwulf finished second to Autumn Glow in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1609m) at Randwick last Saturday.
“He seems really good (Sunday) morning,” Pride said. “We’ll be accepting on Tuesday morning for the Cox Plate … he’s been to Flemington before now, he did that trip last year and handled things really well.”
Ceolwulf won the Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington on a heavy track in November last year. He has a win and two seconds from previous starts at 2000m, but has been most effective over a mile, Racenet noted, and is scheduled, “all being well”, to leave his Warwick Farm base for Melbourne on Thursday.
“Looks like a bit of rain around Melbourne towards the end of the week, I’m not going to get carried away about forecasts just yet, but happy, happy,” Pride said. “He’s right in the zone.”
Racenet reported Ceolwulf had firmed from $11 to $5.50 in Cox Plate betting, behind equal favourites Aeliana, Sir Delius and Warwoven at $4.50.
Read more: Warwoven Wins Caulfield Guineas After Golden Rose Double
Cox Plate 2026 likely field
Racing.com’s Trent Masenhelder listed nine confirmed acceptors for the Cox Plate:
- Aeliana (trainer Chris Waller)
- Attrition (Mitch Freedman; jockey Jamie Mott)
- Birdman (Chris Waller)
- Blind Raise (Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young; Jamie Melham)
- Ceolwulf (Joe Pride)
- Land Legend (Ciaron Maher; Ethan Brown)
- Light Infantry Man (Ciaron Maher)
- Sir Delius (Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott; Craig Williams)
- Warwoven (Bjorn Baker; Rachel King)
The same preview listed decisions still to come on Waller’s Autumn Boy, Andrea Leek’s Cosmic Crusader and four more Maher horses in Middle Earth, Royal Supremacy, Saint George and Zahrann. That leaves Maher with as many as six possible runners.
Waller had earlier said the three-year-old Autumn Boy would head south for the race after the Epsom Handicap. “Yes, he will,” Waller told Giddy Up with Gareth Hall, Racing.com reported on 7 October. “That’s always been the plan.”
Caulfield Cup runners in the mix
Cosmic Crusader started favourite in the Caulfield Cup and finished fourth behind Kingswood, Saint George and Enfjaar. Before the Cup, owner Bob Peters said a Cox Plate decision would depend on how the Turnbull Stakes winner performed and pulled up. “We will wait until after the Caulfield Cup and then make a decision on that,” Peters told Racing.com on 7 October.
Half Yours and Ohope Wins were both among the 24 horses left in the race at third acceptances on 16 October. Ohope Wins was euthanised after falling in the Caulfield Cup, and trainer Tony McEvoy has said he feels Half Yours’ spring campaign is over after his fall in the same race (read the full story).
How the main contenders shape up
Sir Delius was fourth as favourite in the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on 3 October, one place behind Aeliana, as Cosmic Crusader won. The Waterhouse and Bott-trained entire was ruled out of last year’s Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup after Racing Victoria said scans showed he was at heightened risk of injury.
Warwoven, ridden by Rachel King, completed the Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas double when he beat Blind Raise in the Guineas on 10 October. Blind Raise will carry 49.5kg as a three-year-old with Melham aboard, and her four-meeting suspension does not start until the day after the Cox Plate.
Land Legend caused a $61 upset in the Group 1 Might And Power (2000m) at Caulfield on 10 October, leading all the way under Ethan Brown to hold off $1.40 favourite Sheza Alibi, with Birdman third, Racing.com reported. Maher’s Light Infantry Man set the pace in the Turnbull Stakes before Cosmic Crusader ran past him in the straight.
Read more: Cosmic Crusader Wins Turnbull Stakes for Leek and Pike
What happens next
Final late entries close at 12pm on Monday 19 October, and final acceptances close at 12pm on Tuesday 20 October, according to the Moonee Valley Racing Club’s race conditions. The field is capped at 14 runners plus four emergencies, chosen by the club’s committee with consideration given to international and ACC ratings.
The 106th Cox Plate will be the first run away from Moonee Valley, with Racing Victoria moving the race to Flemington while The Valley is redeveloped. The nine-race program also includes the Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m), whose winner earns a golden ticket into the Melbourne Cup.
More News
- Jamie Melham Booked for Blind Raise in Cox Plate Bid
- Kingswood Wins Caulfield Cup 2026 for Gavin Bedggood and John Allen
- “Unfinished Business” Sir Delius Returns to Flemington for Cox Plate Redemption
- The 10 Greatest Cox Plate Winners of All Time
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