Ladbrokes Cox Plate 100 - Saturday 24th October 2020

Initially the family lived in Melbourne and over time moved to Kensington, North Melbourne and finally Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds. By 1860, Cox had established himself as a butcher at 95 Queen Street, Melbourne. He certainly built on all the opportunities that life in early Victoria offered. WS and Mary had another ten children in Melbourne and is then described as a grazier and racecourse owner. Cox rode on the wave of popularity for horse racing in Victoria as Melbourne continued to prosper on the wealth produced from the gold rush. As well as the permanent racecourses at Flemington, Williamstown and Caulfield many private entrepreneurs established racecourses. Cox first established a racecourse at Kensington Park in 1874 followed by Moonee Valley in 1882 and Maribyrnong 1891. Whilst racing was a predominant use, the courses were used for dog coursing, polo, shooting competitions and harness racing. Hurdle, steeplechase and flat races were all on the racing programs at the courses. Cox also bred and raced horses under the nom de plume “C S King” using the colours of a cerise jacket and yellow cap. He raced a number successful horses including Imperial who won the Sydney Cup and The King which raced in the Melbourne Cup. Cox was strategic in his approach to racing. With the overhaul of the number of race meetings and races in metropolitan Melbourne, he obtained the rights to secure from the VRC an October meeting the Saturday before the VRC’s Derby Day. This is still held and is the day the W.S. Cox Plate is run. Cox was also outspoken in 1880 during the debate on the introduction of the totalisator taking the side of small bookmakers, which was consistent with his philosophy of making racing affordable to a wide range of the community and enabling a broad range of owners the opportunity to race their horses. Cox realised that the course at Kensington, although extremely successful, was too small and so he searched around for a better tract of land. He settled on land known as Feehan’s Farm and took a seven-year lease with an option to purchase. The land was initially owned by John Pascoe Fawkner then ‘Long’ Mooney then Richard Feehan. Cox called the property Moonee Valley and commenced building the Moonee Valley racecourse. The last meeting at Kensington Park was in December 1882 and the land was subsequently sold. In 1883 a meeting was held at Hosies Hotel in Elizabeth Street and a Club was established as a proprietary company owned by the Cox family. Moonee Valley Racecourse was opened in September 1893. Consistent with his approach at Kensington Park, Cox ensured the layout made the viewing of races accessible to all.