![\"Aeliana\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Aeliana-DamianLane-20250405-2972-1024x683.jpg\")
Aeliana carries the hopes of Kathryn Wood-Enriquez and her fellow oenrs in the Cox Plate. (Photo by Bronwen Healy \u2013 The Image is Everything)<\/p>\nAeliana carries the hopes of Kathryn Wood-Enriquez and her fellow oenrs in the Cox Plate. (Photo by Bronwen Healy \u2013 The Image is Everything)<\/p>\n
Six degrees of separation is a concept that everyone is six or fewer social interactions away from knowing each other.<\/p>\n
Urban myth or otherwise, it\u2019s got nothing on racing\u2019s grapevine for connection, especially if someone is selling a racehorse and someone else has expressed a casual interest in buying one.<\/p>\n
Like wildfire, the word in racing circles moves at a frenetic tempo. It is fuelled by the industry\u2019s insular nature and often accelerated by a sense of opportunity.<\/p>\n
In one instant, it caught and captivated Kathryn Wood-Enriquez, the part-owner of Cox Plate runner Aeliana.<\/p>\n
Within 48 hours of expressing an ambition to own a racehorse during a social function she hosted at the races, Wood-Enriquez was being sold the dream.<\/p>\n
When her phone rang, it was syndicator Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds fame, on the other end of the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only one day I\u2019d actually said to a particular gentleman, \u2018I\u2019ve always wanted to own a horse. I think that\u2019s the next stage\u2019,\u201d Wood-Enriquez told The Straight.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis wife, I think, went to school with Gai Waterhouse and I got a phone call from Denise Martin. And so it didn\u2019t take very long.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I have an engineering business, I\u2019m always very orientated towards sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I just thought, \u2018oh, this has actually worked really well. I\u2019ve actually told somebody on a Saturday that I\u2019m interested in buying a horse and by Monday, I\u2019ve already got a phone call\u2019. And I thought, \u2018actually, that\u2019s really good\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Denise had taken a week to call or two weeks, I mean, I wouldn\u2019t have lost interest but I may have thought, \u2018maybe these are not the people for me\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin and Wood-Enriquez have become close friends, sharing a common passion that has grown alongside racetrack success with horses such as Foxplay, Invincibella, Olentia, Fiesta, D\u2019Argento, Espiona, Noire and now Aeliana.<\/p>\n
From one businesswoman to another, it\u2019s a relationship that thrives on mutual respect.<\/p>\n
Group 1 wins have translated into spectacular results in the sale ring as Australia\u2019s broodmare market enjoys a surge in domestic interest, in line with trends in other countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the various bloodstock agents that Denise has used over the years, she\u2019s bought really soundly,\u201d Wood-Enriquez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether with the breeding, you obviously want to try to get that black type early and then get to winning a Group race before on-selling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do like her business model in that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aeliana will be a second Cox Plate runner for Wood-Enriquez and her husband Oliver under their Paramount Racing enterprise, after D\u2019Argento made the running before finishing unplaced in Winx\u2019s historic fourth win.<\/p>\n
Wood-Enriquez, a devotee of Australia\u2019s spring Cups while growing up in New Zealand, is now more enamoured with the Cox Plate.<\/p>\n
The Cox Plate\u2019s standing as Australia\u2019s most prestigious race is matched only by Wood-Enriquez\u2019s unfulfilled ambition to have a horse good enough to win one.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the reasons she has been a Cox Plate day sponsor for almost a decade through her valve manufacturing company Powerflo Solutions, headquartered in Sydney but expanding on a global scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it\u2019s about giving something back to the industry \u2026 an industry I have always loved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a decision at least eight years ago to sponsor a race on Cox Plate day because this is the race (the Cox Plate) I want to win. This is the one.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/katheryn-wood-1024x565.jpg\")
Kathryn Wood-Enriquez (centre in white) is looking for her first Cox Plate success as an owner. (Photo by Bronwen Healy \u2013 The Image is Everything)<\/p>\n
Whether Wood-Enriquez gets to present one trophy before accepting a more famous one will be up to Aeliana.<\/p>\n
A four-year mare, Aeliana will be challenged by the modern-day record books during a day filled with nostalgia at Moonee Valley.<\/p>\n
An Australian Derby winner returning as a spring four-year-old hasn\u2019t been sighted on the Cox Plate honour roll since Bonecrusher won the race described as \u201cthe greatest ever\u201d in 1986.<\/p>\n
Bonecrusher was the last of a mini era of household names to complete the double, following a rise to the top of Australasia\u2019s weight-for-age ranks achieved by Dulcify (1979), Kingston Town (1980) and Strawberry Road (1983).<\/p>\n
Aeliana\u2019s task is obvious but not insurmountable, much like the one Sir Edmund Hillary, whom Wood-Enriquez crossed paths with as a schoolkid, faced as the first to climb Mount Everest.<\/p>\n
A national hero in New Zealand, Sir Edmund left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I met him, I thought he was a quiet, silent achiever who didn\u2019t need to talk too much,\u201d Wood-Enriquez remembered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just gets out and does it and I think that is one thing I also live by: don\u2019t tell me what you can do, just do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is why Denise and I get on. I love a challenge. In fact, if I didn\u2019t have a challenge every day, I wouldn\u2019t bother going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like many in the racing industry, Wood-Enriquez will miss Moonee Valley\u2019s distinctiveness, which has made it a point of difference among Australia\u2019s major racetracks.<\/p>\n
Business has taught her that nothing lasts forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what to think about the change going forward,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure it is going to be good but I just think the Valley track as it stands right now is something that is just sensational. There aren\u2019t many of those racetracks in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I totally embrace change. We need to adapt because every industry is cyclic. It\u2019s part of the course of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Moonee Valley as we know it has just about run its race, a $200 million reincarnation isn\u2019t going to stop Wood-Enriquez from trying to win the Cox Plate in a new epoch if Aeliana falls short.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the one I\u2019ve been waiting for. I hope I don\u2019t have to wait beyond Saturday, but if I do, well, you know, so be it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aeliana carries the hopes of Kathryn Wood-Enriquez and her fellow oenrs in the Cox Plate. (Photo by Bronwen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-221457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}