Cosmic Crusader Wins the First Cox Plate Run at Flemington at $9.50
West Australian gelding Cosmic Crusader won the $6 million Cox Plate (2040m) on Saturday 24 October 2026, the first time the weight-for-age championship has been run at Flemington. The six-year-old started at $9.50 and beat the Chris Waller-trained Birdman ($11) by three-quarters of a length, with Waller’s Aeliana, the $4.20 favourite, a head away third. Ceolwulf finished fourth. The win was the first in a major race for both trainer Andrea Leek and jockey William Pike.
Why Flemington
The Cox Plate has traditionally been run at Moonee Valley. With The Valley closed for redevelopment, Racing Victoria moved the 2026 race to Flemington, where the reported crowd was 34,617. The change of venue also changed the test: Moonee Valley is a tight track with a short straight, while Flemington has a long straight and wide turns, so form at The Valley was a weaker guide than in a normal year.
The result
- 1st: Cosmic Crusader – trainer Andrea Leek, jockey William Pike – $9.50
- 2nd: Birdman – trainer Chris Waller – $11, three-quarters of a length
- 3rd: Aeliana – trainer Chris Waller, jockey James McDonald – $4.20 favourite, a head
- 4th: Ceolwulf
Gai Waterhouse’s Sir Delius, the long-time market leader before the race, started at $5 and finished sixth. Prices are starting prices as reported by 7NEWS.
The “Wizards from the West”
Cosmic Crusader is owned and bred by Western Australian Bob Peters and was previously trained in Perth by Michael Grantham, under whom he won the Group 1 Northerly Stakes in 2025. Pike is also from Western Australia. The win followed Northerly, another West Australian horse, which won the Cox Plate in 2001 and 2002. Leek is the first female trainer to win the race since Moira Murdoch with Solvit in 1994.
The gelding’s Victorian spring campaign covered seven starts. He won the Bletchingly Stakes, the P B Lawrence Stakes and the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes, then started favourite in the Caulfield Cup on 17 October and finished fourth behind $26 winner Kingswood. The Cox Plate was his 12th win from 24 starts.
“I don’t ever dream of winning these races, because it’s always too far to reach,” Pike said after the race. Leek called the horse “just an iron horse” who “has just got better and better and better”.
Reading the market
Cosmic Crusader was beaten as favourite one week and won at nearly $10 the next. His $9.50 price implied a win chance of roughly 10 per cent; the favourite’s $4.20 implied about 24 per cent. These are the market’s estimates, not forecasts, and a single result says little about whether either price was “right”. What the sequence does show is how quickly a horse’s price can change between starts, and why chasing last week’s loss on the same horse is a habit worth avoiding.
The Cox Plate also carries a ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 3 November, under the Victoria Racing Club’s conditions for the 2026 race. If you bet across the carnival, decide your total budget for all four Flemington days in advance; our guides on budgeting for gambling and reality checks show how.
Cosmic Crusader, trained by Andrea Leek and ridden by William Pike, won at Flemington on 24 October 2026 at a starting price of $9.50.
Moonee Valley, the race’s traditional home, is closed for redevelopment, so Racing Victoria moved the 2026 Cox Plate to Flemington.
Aeliana, the $4.20 favourite, finished third, a head behind Birdman. Long-time market leader Sir Delius started at $5 and finished sixth.
Sources
- The Nightly (7NEWS): Cosmic Crusader stuns Flemington with epic Cox Plate victory (24 October 2026)
- SportsNews: Cosmic Crusader conquers the 2026 Cox Plate at Flemington
- Victoria Racing Club: Flemington confirmed as host of the 2026 Cox Plate
- Victoria Racing Club: Melbourne Cup nominations and key dates
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Header photo: 2010 Belmont Stakes finish by Naoki Nakashima, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.