Cosmic Crusader, ridden by William Pike, has won the A$6 million Cox Plate, making Andrea Leek the first woman to train the winner in 32 years, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The race was run at Flemington for the first time.
The horse held off Chris Waller's pair Birdman and Aeliana, while the favourite, Gai Waterhouse's Sir Delius, finished sixth. Leek joins Deirdre Stein and Moira Murdoch as the only female trainers to win the race.
Her husband, former trainer John Leek Jr, watched from a friend's home because he was banned from racing for three years in August over a charge of attempting to stomach-tube a horse. Leek said his absence was hard. The horse's owner, Perth billionaire Bob Peters, sent Cosmic Crusader to her stable during the winter rather than to one of the bigger yards.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
