After a swag of Cox Plate fancies tuned up in last Saturday’s Makybe Diva Stakes, futures punters should turn the page to the cups markets ahead of this Saturday’s Group 1 Underwood Stakes day at Caulfield.

Not that the 1800-metre weight-for-age Underwood hasn’t produced its fair share of Cox Plate winners – 24 have come through it, including 16 who completed the double.

It has, however, gone out of fashion as a Cox Plate lead-up since Ocean Park completed the double in 2012 – two of four straight Group 1 wins on the underrated Kiwi’s spring rampage.

Of the 13 Underwood Stakes winners from 2013-2025, 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.

Having said that, 2024 Underwood winner Buckaroo went on to run second in the 2025 Cox Plate (as well as the 2024 Caulfield Cup).

And you could argue that if the stewards hadn’t ruled 2025 Underwood winner Sir Delius out of last year’s Cox Plate, he too would have gone close to winning it.

Overall, though, it’s Caulfield Cup punters who should have the closest eye on this Saturday’s Underwood. A total of 32 Caulfield Cup winners have contested the Underwood on the way through, most recently Without A Fight (2023) and Duke De Sessa (2024).

In fact, the Underwood produced both cup winners in both those years, Without A Fight completing the 2023 cups double and Knight’s Choice winning the 2024 Melbourne Cup after running ninth of 12 in the Underwood.

In all 17 Melbourne Cup winners have come through the Underwood.

Saint George and Zahrann, leading fancies for the 2026 Caulfield Cup, will be going around at Caulfield on Saturday — in the Naturalism Stakes, which last year produced cups double hero Half Yours.