This Saturday’s sole Group 1, the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield, has long been a standard Cox Plate lead-up, with 16 horses completing the double between 1926 and 2012.

The last horse to do so was the woefully underrated Kiwi four-year-old Ocean Park, who picked up the Underwood as the second of four straight Group 1 wins in the spring of 2012.

He’s not generally regarded as one of the great modern Cox Plate winners, but the capacity 14-horse field at The Valley that year included 13 past and/or future Group 1 winners.

The minor placegetters were two superstar three-year-olds in All Too Hard and Pierro. The members of that trifecta have gone on to sire a total of 16 Group 1 winners.

That said, it’s gone a bit pear-shaped for the Underwood Stakes form since then, with no Cox Plate winner since Ocean Park having run in the Underwood.

Of the 11 Underwood Stakes winners from 2013-2023, 10 have pressed on to run in the Cox Plate but only two have run a place — Russian Camelot (third) in 2020 and Alligator Blood (third) in 2023.

The trend seems likely to continue in 2024 if the markets are any guide. The only runner in this Saturday’s Underwood who’s in the top 20 in Cox Plate betting is Buckaroo, a $34 chance to win at The Valley.

Part of the Underwood’s problem is that it’s usually been up against the George Main Stakes, which has provided the Cox Plate winner four times since 2016.

The George Main had a name and calendar change last year, but its replacement on Saturday’s Randwick card, the 7+ Sport Stakes, is worth $250,000 more than the Underwood.

This Saturday’s second edition of the 7 Stakes has attracted Fangirl, an $11 Cox Plate chance, as well as $34 pops Royal Patronage and Zardozi.