Henry Plumptre Reflects on a Cox Plate Champion

Now the CEO at Cambridge Stud, Henry Plumptre has a great recollection of one of his favourite Cox Plates won by iconic Cox Plate champion Octagonal.

My most vivid Cox Plate memory focuses entirely on one of Cambridge Stud’s best graduates, the mighty Octagonal. He won the 1995 Cox Plate, his second Group 1 after winning the Sires Produce in Sydney as a two-year-old. Little did we know that he was on his way to ten Group 1 victories, achieved in an era of outstanding racehorses such as Saintly, Nothin’ Leica Dane, Filante and Mahogany who he beat in the Cox Plate.

I was managing for Lloyd Williams at the time and had purchased Mahogany three years previously and, by the time we got to the 1995 Cox plate, he had won 6  Group 1 races and went into the race as favourite. Lloyd wanted Lee Freedman to train Mahogany “English style” for the race so we only gave him one run in the Craiglee Stakes at Flemington over a mile, where he ran second, then straight into the Cox Plate. Octagonal, coming off a successful two-year-old year, had won the Stan Fox Stakes in Sydney, before running third in the Caulfield Guineas to the speedball Our Maizcay

Our plan nearly came off with Mahogany (Greg Hall) enjoying a lovely run just off the pace, hitting the front unchallenged at the top of the Moonee Valley straight to go for home. However Octagonal, under the three-year-olds weight of 49.5 kilos and a brilliant ride from Shane Dye, was steadily making ground through the pack and he launched at Mahogany in the final 100 metres and got up by a neck!
 
I remember Jack Ingham and his brother Bob, beside themselves with excitement, striding down the horse walkway to the unsaddling area – shaking everyone’s hand and giving Lloyd a huge hug (which he hated!!) before welcoming their Champion back to scale. They had both been at Karaka when Octagonal was sold, the first crop of his sire Zabeel and possibly one of the best-looking yearlings ever sold from Cambridge. In a flat market, Zabeel’s first crop were the only shining light and Octagonal was led out of the ring, sold for $210,000 to the bid of Jack Ingham.

Ultimately, as a stallion, Zabeel had a profound impact on the race siring four winners of the Cox Plate, including the Champion Sire Savabeel, Maldivian, Horse of the Year Might And Power and of course, Octagonal.

Were there any similarities with the four Cox Plate graduates? Perhaps, but it would be fairer to say that when you had a good Zabeel, they were very tough, courageous racehorses that often went above and beyond in their races.

If you ask the trainers who trained the better ones, I think they would generally tell you that they could be temperamental if mishandled, particularly the fillies. However, the good ones displayed extraordinary tenacity and courage – which was a hallmark of Octagonal himself.
 
Octagonal went on to win ten Group 1 races and was Horse of the Year for 1995/1996.  Mahogany finished with eight Group ones and was Horse of the Year in 1994/1995.

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