Lys Gracieux rallies to Cox Plate victory

Lys Gracieux won her second consecutive Group 1 or Grade 1 race in as many countries with a strong rally in Saturday’s $3.4 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia.

Sent off favored, Lys Gracieux (3-2) closed from off the pace to take the lead in the final sixteenth, pulling clear to win by 1 1/2 lengths over 15-2 Castelvecchio, a 3-year-old having his first start against older horses.

Te Akua Shark (16-1) finished third, followed by Magic Wand, who was second in the Arlington Million at Arlington Park in August and second to Magical in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, Ireland, on Sept. 14.

Lys Gracieux won the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan on June 23. Owned by U Carrot Farm and trained by Yoshito Yahagi, Lys Gracieux was ridden by Damian Lane in the Takarazuka Kinen and Cox Plate.

A 5-year-old mare by Heart’s Cry, Lys Gracieux won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies and mares at Kyoto, Japan, last November.

Yahagi said Lys Gracieux will be pointed for the Grade 1 Arima Kinen Stakes in Japan on Dec. 22, the final major race of the year in that country.

Fillies and mares have won the last five runnings of the Cox Plate at 1 1/4 miles on turf, Australia’s leading weight-for-age race. The world-famous Winx won the race from 2015-2018 and has since been retired.