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Old Super Survives the Chaos - The Herald Sun

IF YOU asked me for two personal Cox Plate memories, the ones that stick out are the day the green colours went flying through the air.

I've won the Cox Plate twice and both were hard to top, for different reasons.

The first, the day of the flying green colours, was 1992.

It was an amazing Cox Plate. I can't remember one full of more champions: Let's Elope, Better Loosen Up, Rough Habit, Prince Salieri, Burst, Sydeston.

The race was a moving hall of fame and it was a unique era. I don't think we "make" horses like them any more.

My theory is that back then we didn't mollycoddle our young horses as we do now. We've made them weaker, over-handled them.

They'd be roaming hills back in those days rather than being intensively prepared for yearling sales. It makes a difference, believe me.

I had three runners in '92: Naturalism, Mannerism and Super Impose.

Mick Dittman had won the Turnbull by three lengths on Naturalism and said it was just a matter of going around in the Cox Plate. He'd just win.

Mannerism was in the mix. Super Impose? He'd always run better right-handed, was more feted in New South Wales than down here. To be honest, he wasn't the one we were keen on.

I can't remember exactly where I sat, but it was somewhere up in the grandstand.

It was an electric atmosphere. It was a heavyweight bout and it goes to show just how good Naturalism was, because he was even money. He's easily in the best three horses I've trained.

It was all going pretty well, then I saw these green colours go flying through the air. It took me a furlong to get my head around what had gone wrong.

Palace Reign clipped heels and went down and Naturalism went over the top of him. Mick, in the predominantly green colours, went flying.

It was pretty devastating and for a furlong I didn't know where to look. Then I saw Old Super circling them.

Let's Elope had cruised to the lead out wide. Let's Elope laid in and there was interference everywhere. Better Loosen Up and Prince Salieri copped it. Super and Greg Hall avoided it and came with a late surge.

He won and everyone went mad, but there was so much interference, you never knew what might happen next.

There were at least four hard-luck stories.

Someone protested against us, then realised they'd protested against the wrong horse. Ultimately,Super was a lucky winner, but who'd begrudge him?

It was a lifetime ago when I bought him, 1986. He was one of those old-style horses.

He never raced at two and would have spent the first important year of his life roaming hills in New Zealand.

And look what he became.

We've purposefully held back on our two-year-olds this year because we think it's the right thing to do. We want to get longevity out of them.

In 2005, it was a completely different story other than we had another even-money favourite: The Diva.

Makybe Diva went on to win a third Melbourne Cup at Flemington 10 days after the Cox Plate, but the Valley got plenty of mileage out of her Cox Plate.

To have eight or nine, whatever it was, Group 1 winners across the track, the famous wave at the 600m . . . people who love racing will never forget that image.

She had greatness. By that I mean you went to the races knowing she was better than them. It was a rare feeling of confidence with her.

She was a giant. People don't realise how massive she was, almost 17 hands. You'd stand next to her and it was like standing next to a building. It helped her carry those massive weights.

Probably the third most interesting Cox Plate chapter for me was Mahogany in '95.

He set a blueprint for us in a way. We now train a lot more along the lines we did with Mahogany for that Cox Plate, not wasting runs, not over-racing the good horses, ensuring longevity.

We gave him a very light preparation - just one run, second in the Craiglee.

He was beaten in the last gasp by Octagonal, giving him something like 10kg. It was a mighty performance. Octagonal was a champion. Both of them were champions.

There aren't many races where a champion can be beaten by a champion. The Cox Plate is one of them.

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