Farewell to the most frustrating racetrack in Australia for 18 months… which did give us the greatest race ever seen in Australia

Well friends, today is the last Cox Plate at the Moonee Valley we all know and dread, before it gets redeveloped into a friendly little Mr Rogers neighbourhood living space and the grandstands moved to the northern side of the racecourse (From the west), which will also have the effect of widening the track and giving the Valley a home straight longer than 173m (317m to be exact).

In all it’s a fundamental change for a Melbourne racecourse not seen since the mid 1990s, when Caulfield was rebuilt and the track widened + straight lengthened, which helped alleviate the sharp corner creating a leader’s track, and the Valley itself changed to StrathAyr at that same time, which shortened the Cox Plate from 2050m to 2040m.

Of course, to mark the occasion, the Cox Plate will be the last race on the Valley card, and I hope for one last laugh that none of the backmarkers are able to make any ground.

Death Valley, we knew you well.

As for the race itself, Via Sistina is a $2.20 shot to join the coveted list of repeat Cox Plate winners, which would be quite fitting given we lost the mighty So You Think (2009 + 2010 winner) this week, and she’d also be the first Southern Hemisphere 8-year-old mare to win the race, with only Super Impose (8yo gelding) in 1992 and Fields of Omagh (9yo gelding) in 2006 achieving the feat.

Anyway, here’s Crazy Craig with a few picks from… DEATH VALLEY.

The Billy Joel Pick: Movin Out (No.6, Barrier 3) E/W in Race 6 at Moonee Valley (MR6), 3pm AEDT

2040m Mares Group 3 Tesio Stakes

Trainer: Chris Waller, Jockey: Ben Melham, 55kg

Hello hello folks it’s Craaaaazy Craig, TBFB, Scratchie King of Bairnsdale, and here we go for another ripsnorting edition of Cox Plate Day, one tinged with sadness as they prepare to burn this evil beast of a track to the ground and stick a couple of new buildings on top, and we’ll try and go out in the same way most of my picks at Moonee Valley went out… defeated and disappointed!

Anyway, we’ll start in Race 6, which is apparently a race in 2 between She’s Unusual and She’s A Hustler… well she’s one or the other or both, but I want to go for a bit of value with a Billy Joel classic…

MOVIN OUT.

And it seems such a waste of time
If that’s what it’s all about
Mama, if that’s movin’ up then I’m
Movin’ Out!

This race has the Billy Joel Pick vs the Manfred Mann/Bruce Springsteen Pick (Blindedbythelight), versus the Hunters and Collectors pick… do you SEA WHAT I SEE!

P(r)ick No.2: Vestas (No.9, Barrier 4) E/W in Race 8 (MR8), 4:10pm AEDT

1200m WFA Group 2 McEwen Stakes

Trainer: Clint McDonald, Jockey: Ben Melham, 56.5kg

See…my… Vestas, see my Vestas
Made from real gorilla chest!

The HISTORY MAKING COX PLATE: Via Sistina (No.6, Barrier 5) in Race 10 (MR10), 5:40pm AEDT

2040m WFA Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate

Trainer: Chris Waller, Jockey: James McDonald, 57kg

Because when there’s history to be made then DAMNIT I WANT TO SEE IT, and as the great song goes… SISTINAS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES!

Not only the last Cox Plate at the original Valley, but the history on the line here:

The first mare to win the race as an 8-year-old

James McDonald joins Hugh Bowman in winning four consecutive Cox Plates as a jockey, and the list of jockeys with 4 wins which includes Brent Thomson, Glen Boss, Jack Purtell and Darby Munro (5)

Chris Waller joins Jack Holt (6) and Tommy Smith (7) as the only trainers to win at least 6 Cox Plates

And some other crap I don’t care about!

Enjoy your SATURDAY folks, stay safe, stay negative, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, and remember, I’m Crazy Craig, and that’s why they call me Craaaaaazy Craig!