2019 Cox Plate Carnival Media Guide

30 Named in honour of LEGENDARY rider Brent Thomson - ‘The Babe’ enjoyed a long and fruitful career in the saddle with over 2500 winners to his name worldwide. He was born in New Zealand in 1958 and by the time he turned 16 was champion apprentice. It would be the following year as a 17-year-old that Thomson would win his first W.S. Cox Plate aboard Fury’s Order and begin one of the most dominant runs of any rider in the history of the race. In the four years that followed, Thomson would win three consecutive W.S. Cox Plates from 1977-1979 aboard Family of Man and the Colin Hayes pair So Called and the brilliant Dulcify. Given Thomson’s remarkable success in Australasia’s Weight-for-Age Classic, the Brent Thomson Jockey Challenge was first introduced in 2018. Incorporated as part of Racing Victoria’s ‘Star of the Saddle’ series in 2019, the leading ride across the Ladbrokes Cox Plate Carnival will win a $100,000 cash prize. All riders competing at the race meeting(s) will be eligible, including apprentices and those visiting Victoria from interstate or overseas. The Moonee Valley Racing Club will run 18 races across the 2019 Ladbrokes Cox Plate Carnival with eight races on Friday night 25 October 2019 and ten races on Saturday 26 October 2019. Points will be allocated on all races across the race meeting to the first three official placegetters on a 3-2-1 points. In the event of a dead heat, the points will be split as follows: • Dead heat for first – first 2.5 points each, third 1 point; • Dead heat for second – first 3 points, second 1.5 points each; or • Dead heat for third – first 3 points, second 2 points, third 0.5 points each. If the highest points scorer is suspended for breaching AR 131 and/or 132 as the result of any ride during the race meeting, then the prize will be awarded to the second highest points scorer and so on until such time as the best and fairest jockey is determined. In the case of a tie the cash prize will be shared equally by those eligible riders on the highest number of points and a countback will not be conducted. Year Winner Points 2018 John Allen / Hugh Bowman 10 BRENT THOMSON JOCKEY CHALLENGE BRENT THOMSON JOCKEY CHALLENGE 2019 L A DBROK E S COX PL AT E CA RNI VA L