By Dave Murray
Godolphin star Anamoe proved his greatness by winning the Cox Plate (G1), Australia's weight-for-age championship, Saturday at Moonee Valley Racecourse and now could be given an opportunity to join Hall of Fame gallopers Rising Fast and So You Think.
After notching his seventh Group 1 victory by holding off I'm Thunderstruck and Irish galloper El Bodegon at 2,040 meters, Anamoe could line up in the newly named VRC Champions Stakes (G1) going 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) at Flemington on November 5.
Rising Fast and So You Think are the only gallopers in history to complete the Caulfield Stakes-Cox Plate-Mackinnon Stakes treble.
Head trainer James Cummings won't rush a decision to run Anamoe and will assess 4-year-old Street Boss colt early next week.
Narrowly and controversially beaten in the Cox Plate last year as a 3-year-old, Anamoe made amends and proved he was the best horse in Australia with a fighting performance.
Jockey James McDonald rode a brilliant race, parking Anamoe in fourth place before peeling three-wide at the 500 meter mark to chase leading pair Zaaki and Alligator Blood.
Anamoe grabbed the lead at the top of the short home straight and then held the backmarkers to record his 11th win (all at stakes level) from 20 starts for prize money earnings of a massive $9,441,025.
“He's the best horse I've had anything to do with, it's a humbling experience for me, it's got me a little lost for words,” Cummings said.
“The right horses have run second and third, so it's a proper Cox Plate.”
Anamoe, who also became Godolphin's most prolific Group 1 winner, edging clear of Daylami and Fantastic Light, has now won four Group 1 races from four starts this preparation.
“I was on a champion today, I'm not going to lie, it's been a big build-up,” said McDonald.
“I felt the tension, you could cut it with a butter knife.
“It's good to get it over with. I don't know how Hughie Bowman got through it with four (Winx) of them.”
It was the first Cox Plate win for both Cummings and McDonald.
Street Boss stood the 2022 Northern Hemisphere season at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Lexington.
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