Who Is Cosmic Crusader? The Perth-Owned Cox Plate Winner Trained by Andrea Leek

Cosmic Crusader racehorse: who won the 2026 Cox Plate

Cosmic Crusader is a 6-year-old gelding from the Perth stable of owner-breeder Bob Peters, and on Saturday, October 24, 2026, he won the A$6 million Cox Plate over 2040 metres. He came from second-last on the home turn under Willie Pike and beat Chris Waller's Birdman by three-quarters of a length.

It was the 106th Cox Plate, first run in 1922, and the first ever run at Flemington. The race's usual home, Moonee Valley, is being redeveloped. A crowd of 34,617 watched, according to Sports News Australia.

The top six

Aeliana went off favourite and finished just behind Birdman. With his two runners second and third, Waller just missed what would have been a record-equalling seventh Cox Plate.

Three firsts in one race

The win made history in more than one way:

• Andrea Leek became the third woman to train a Cox Plate winner. Three weeks earlier, the Turnbull Stakes gave her the first Group 1 win of her career.
• Willie Pike, known as "The Wizard", is the first WA-based jockey to win the race (AAP). He said after the race that he never imagined winning races like this.
• Western Australia has its first Cox Plate winner since Northerly won it back to back in 2001 and 2002.

Peters, who is in the WA Racing Hall of Fame, called it the biggest win of his life and the best race in Australia.

Pedigree, owner and stable

Here is the profile, checked against the race-day reports:

• Sire: Maurice, a Japanese champion racehorse.
• Dam: Cosmic Storm, by Street Sense. She won seven races, including the Group 3 La Trice Classic in Perth.
• Foaled: Windsor Park Stud, New Zealand, which is why his name carries "(NZ)". Might And Power and So You Think, two earlier Cox Plate winners, were also foaled there.
• Bred and owned by: Bob Peters (Peters Investments), Perth.
• Trainer: Andrea Leek, a former jumps jockey based at Pakenham, Victoria. She took him over from Perth trainer Michael Grantham.
• Record: 12 wins from 24 starts and more than A$6.8 million in prize money.

That makes him New Zealand-foaled, Perth-owned and Victoria-trained: Peters sent him east to Leek after his Northerly Stakes win.

How his spring built up

He made his name at home by winning the Group 1 Northerly Stakes at Ascot in Perth last December under Grantham. Then he went to Leek, who mapped out seven Melbourne starts:

1. Bletchingly Stakes (G3, 1200m), July 25: won first-up by 2.5 lengths.
2. P B Lawrence Stakes (G2, 1400m), August 15: won.
3. Memsie Stakes (G1, 1400m): third.
4. Underwood Stakes (G1, 1800m): second.
5. Turnbull Stakes (G1, 2000m): won on heavy ground.
6. Caulfield Cup (G1, 2400m): fourth as favourite.
7. Cox Plate (G1, 2040m): won.

That's four wins from seven, and the hardest part came at the end. Leek called him an "iron horse", and the record shows why.

From the Turnbull to the Cox Plate

The Turnbull Stakes is one of the classic Cox Plate lead-ups. It is a 2000m Group 1 at Flemington in early October, so it tests whether a horse can stay the Cox Plate trip at the top level.

Cosmic Crusader had never raced past 1800 metres before the Turnbull. He had never run on a heavy track either, although he had won five of six starts on soft. Leek had worked him on heavy ground at Pakenham beforehand, and he won by 1¾ lengths from Light Infantry Man, with Aeliana third.

The usual path runs like this:

• Late winter: short races (1200m to 1400m) sharpen speed.
• September: races around 1600m to 1800m, such as the Underwood, build stamina.
• Early October: the Turnbull or the Caulfield Stakes at about 2000m.
• Late October: the Cox Plate.

The unusual part this year was the Caulfield Cup in the middle. It is a 2400m handicap, and the Cox Plate came just one week later. Many trainers pick one or the other. Leek ran in both, and her horse was still strong enough at the end of the Cox Plate.

Weight-for-age: why the Cox Plate is Australia's championship

The Cox Plate is run under weight-for-age (WFA) conditions. Weight comes from a fixed scale based on age and sex, not from past results, so a champion carries no penalty for winning before.

That is the difference from a handicap like the Caulfield Cup or Melbourne Cup, where better horses carry more weight to even the field. In a WFA race the best horse is supposed to win, which is why the Cox Plate is called Australia's championship race.

In this year's Cox Plate:

• Older males carried 59kg (Cosmic Crusader, Birdman, Ceolwulf and the rest).
• Mares get an allowance; Aeliana carried 57kg.
• Three-year-olds get the biggest break because they're still maturing. Warwoven and Blind Raise carried 49.5kg, as our Cox Plate 2026 preview explained.

The scale also changes through the year as young horses grow up. That is why a WFA win in late October counts as a measure of the best horse in the country.

New to racing terms? The glossary covers words like "first-up", "gelding" and "Group 1".

What's next for Cosmic Crusader

No next race has been announced. AAP and the racing press reported only the Cox Plate result. One report says Peters isn't ruling out the Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday, November 7, and that he will decide once he sees how the horse comes through Saturday's run.

Here is what to watch:

• Recovery reports this week: how he eats, walks and trots after his seventh run since July.
• An official decision from Leek and Peters on the Champions Stakes or a spell.
• The Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, November 3: he is not reported as a runner, but it shapes the rest of the Flemington carnival. See our Melbourne Cup 2026 guide.
• Where he spends the summer: whether he stays in Victoria with Leek or heads home to Perth is not yet known.

Follow the rest of the season on Trends, and catch up on the Caulfield Cup 2026, the race he ran fourth in a week before his Cox Plate win.

Why a gelding matters

Geldings can't go to stud, so good ones often race for years. That is how a 6-year-old with 24 starts can be at his best now. If he stays sound, Cosmic Crusader could be back for another Cox Plate in 2027.