SCHOFIELD RECALLS COX PLATE GLORY

The Cox Plate is full of memorable stories and the day a maiden colt and a teenage apprentice jockey became the toast of Australian racing with an all-the-way win in the time-honoured race at Moonee Valley is just one example.

Chad Schofield, fresh from a Group 1 win in last Saturday's $5 million King Charles III Stakes on Ceolwulf, this week reminisced about the day as a 19-year-old apprentice he steered the Danny O'Brien-trained three-year-old colt Shamus Award to victory in the 2013 edition of the Cox Plate.

Shamus Award went into that year's weight-for-age showpiece having not won a race and only got a start as an emergency when superstar mare Atlantic Jewel was ruled out through injury shortly after the barrier draw in the week of the race.

"It's still obviously the biggest race I've won," Schofield said this week. "It doesn't feel like it was 12 years ago, but obviously very fond memories. It was a fantastic thrill that day. The atmosphere and the rush that I got out of winning it was insane. I haven't obviously been able to win it again since, but I'd love to do it again one day."

Saturday's Cox Plate (2040m) will be the final edition run on the current Moonee Valley circuit, before the course undergoes a major redevelopment ahead of a return to racing at the venue on a new track in 2027, with the 2026 Cox Plate set to be run nearby Flemington.

Shamus Award went into the 2013 Cox Plate winless from nine starts, but he had placed on seven occasions, including a third in the G1 Caulfield Guineas.

He was sent out a $21 chance and Schofield and the colt took the race by the scuff of the neck by pressing forward with the light weight of 49.5kg.

"At that time I was really light, 49kg, and got asked to ride him and the rest is history," Schofield said. "He hadn't won a race but he had been running really well in good races. The start before in the Caulfield Guineas he was back - Glen Boss rode him - and he hit the line well to run third but he hung in really badly.

"I remember speaking to my Dad (Glyn Schofield) the morning of the race and I said, 'I'm just going straight to the front with no weight, put him on the rail and he can't hang in with the rail there'. And they couldn't catch him."

Fiorente, who finished third and subsequently went on to win the Melbourne Cup at his next start, applied the pressure to Shamus Award on his outside before the home turn but the three-year-old gave a good kick around the bend and he held on for a narrow victory despite a late charge from runner-up Happy Trails, which gave Schofield a few anxious moments after crossing the line.

"It was such a blur," Schofield recalled. "But I had my head down and I actually wasn't sure whether I had won or not. All I can remember thinking was, 'Oh my God, if I've just got beaten by a whisker in the Cox Plate', you know you'd never forget it. So thank God we lasted and I remember Corey Brown on Super Cool came up and gave me a big high five and that was pretty cool."

Shamus Award is the most recent Southern Hemisphere-bred three-year-old to win the Cox Plate.

There is one three-year-old in Saturday's field, G1 Champagne Stakes winner Nepotism, who will be ridden by star young Sydney-based jockey Zac Lloyd, who is a chance to join his cousin Schofield on the honour roll.

Schofield will be riding in Sydney on Saturday but is hopeful of feature success during the upcoming Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington as he is scheduled to ride Ceolwulf on Champions Day on November 8.

"Although he's never been that way, I think Flemington is a track he'll love," Schofield said. "A big, galloping straight I think will suit him and I can't wait to go and ride him. He's a horse that gets me really excited, because he's very good."

Story by Mathew Toogood for Racing.com

Pic by Racing Photos