On Track - Summer 2019-20

7 Upon straightening and under some quiet urging from Lane, it was beautiful to watch. The blaze of white on the mare’s face stood out like a beacon as she swept down the straight, with race caller Matt Hill again nailing the call with the ‘Land of the Rising Sun wins the Cox Plate’. Legendary Channel 7 broadcaster Bruce McAvaney has seen it all across the sporting spectrum and as usual summed it up perfectly, as he so often does. “What do we do after Winx? Well, that’s what happens after Winx. Extraordinary… absolutely extraordinary performance”. As trainer Yoshito Yahagi and connections embraced and Lys Gracieux’s strapper Hiroyuki Kitaguchi wiped away tears, many in the crowd stood in awe of this amazing animal’s strength in what she had just achieved. Here again, another chapter was written that could reverberate many times over in years to come as many from abroad seek to follow in her footsteps. “I honestly thought she wasn’t going to make it from there,” Yahagi said when quizzed by Channel 7’s Jason Richardson about his feelings at the 800 metre mark. He needn’t have been concerned. Lys Gracieux is heading into retirement post her run in the popular fan-voted Arima Kinen in Japan on December 22 and a breeding career awaits at Northern Farm. Her name now sits proudly on The Valley’s Wall of Champions in the Octagonal Lounge, with many suggesting that with the rise and rise of Japanese racing, her name won’t be the last we see from the Land of the Rising Sun. The 2019 Ladbrokes Cox Plate victory. Click here to view the replay. Damian Lane salutes to the crowd after his win.