Embarrassing for Australia if raider wins Cox Plate

Master stirrer Matt Chapman says Australian racing should be embarrassed if European raider Victoria Road wins the Cox Plate and it would prove “your mile and a quarter horses are as pants as your stayers.”

The provocative English racing commentator is at it again, five years after when at the Cox Plate barrier draw he told a room full of Aussies that Winx was only beating moderate horses.

Later, he described Winx as a “pensioner” and questioned the mighty mare’s rating as the world’s best racehorse.

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European invader Victoria Road, trained by Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien, is one of the top fancies for Saturday’s $5m Cox Plate and Chapman says the horse is no mug.

But he said it should leave Australians with red faces if Victoria Road pinches the Cox Plate.

“The son of Saxon Warrior was actually an eye-catcher in defeat at Leopardstown last time – but that should be still miles behind Cox Plate form,” Chapman told Racenet.

“If O’Brien…