Cox Plate Odds Preview: Winx vs. Hartnell Matchup Dominates Betting Lines

The battle between Winx and Hartnell in Saturday's Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley is similar to the memorable clash between Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star in the race 30 years ago.

The battle in the 1986 Cox Plate is the standard by which all subsequent equine contests in Australian racing are measured, and with website AustralianGambling reporting that Winx is at $1.90 and Hartnell is at $3.20, the anticipation of a two-horse war is again rampant.

In the 1986 edition, Kiwi-trained pair Bonecrusher ($1.90) and Our Waverley Star ($4) fought tooth-and-nail for much of the final 800 meters before Bonecrusher prevailed in an epic finish.

In terms of the modern rivalry, Winx and Hartnell have met three times before, with the Chris Waller-trained mare victorious on all three occasions.

The first time they met was in last year's Cox Plate, in which Winx won in record time by a big margin. She has subsequently won her next seven races to go into this year's edition on a 12-race winning streak.

Before her first race this campaign in the Warwick Stakes, she was $2.75 to win the Cox Plate, and she subsequently beat Hartnell in that race by 3.5 lengths.

Of the strength of that win, Winx moved into $2.25 for the Cox Plate, while as much as $34 was available around Hartnell at that time. However, Hartnell has won his subsequent starts by eight, six and 3.5 lengths, shortening for the Cox Plate with every win.

Once it became clear that Hartnell was headed to the Cox Plate and not the Caulfield Cup, and after a dominant win in the Turnbull Stakes, he came into $3.75 and has continued to shorten until reaching around $2.80 earlier in the week.

However, the barrier draw, in which Winx drew 3 and Hartnell drew 7, proved the moment the tide turned in terms of betting, with Winx subsequently shortening into odds-on.

Those two horses completely dominate the market, but some money has come in for the three-year-old filly Yankee Rose, who is into $14. She carries the lightest weight under WFA conditions, with 47.5 kilograms, 10 kilograms less than Winx and 11.5 kilograms less than Hartnell.

French galloper Vadamos is next in betting at $15 along with Black Heart Bart, while Hauraki is $18 and Lucia Valentina is $21.

Winx is bidding to become the first horse to win back-to-back Cox Plate races since So You Think in 2009 and 2010, while the last mare to do the repeat was Sunline, who won in 1999 and 2000.