Cox Plate Win Special For Yoshito Yahagi

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Yoshito Yahagi

Almost four decades after watching Kingston Town win one of his three Cox Plates, Japanese trainer has achieved an ambition to claim Australia's premier weight-for-age race.

Yahagi is the trainer of , the winner Saturday's $5 million (2040m) at The Valley, adding another feature win for Japanese horses this spring, a week after won the Cup.

“I was here when Kingston Town won back in 1982, it's been 37 years so I finally came back ‘home',” Yahagi said through an interpreter.

“To win a Cox Plate means a lot to me.

“Thanks very much to Lys Gracieux, connections and to the Australian people.”

Yahagi has won Group Ones in and one in Dubai but rated Saturday's victory on top.

“For me personally, this is the best,” he said.

The race became a possibility for Lys Gracieux after she won the in June, when ridden by Australian jockey who rode the mare again on Saturday.

The Cox Plate is the latest of Melbourne's big spring to have been won by Japanese-trained horses.

Delta Blues and Pop Rock ran the quinella in the 2006 Melbourne Cup while Admire Rakti (2014) and Mer De Glace (2019) have been successful in the .

Yahagi was confident about Lys Gracieux's chances in Saturday's race but admitted he was concerned during the race when she was so far back.

She earned a $2 million bonus for the win after taking out the Takarazuka Kinen.

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