"He's my Kingston Town!"

The wraps don't come any bigger than that, but that is how Darren Beadman described his mount Lonhro in Saturday's $3 million Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley.

Kingston Town, an Australian Racing Hall Of Fame inductee, is the only horse to win three Cox Plates, achieving the feat between 1980 and 1982.

Lonhro is 1-2 favourite to join him on the honour list of winners of Australasia's premier weight-for-age race.

In Beadman's mind there is no doubt he will do it.

He was glowing in his praise of the five-year-old and declared that he was the best horse he had ridden, even better than the champion's father Octagonal.

"I've ridden some good ones, Let's Elope, Saintly, Octagonal, and I even rode Schillaci in his first race at Kyneton."

But according to Beadman none had as many wonderful attributes as Lonhro.

"He's got the complete package, he's got everything that a rider would want, that could give a rider the ride of his life," he said.

He said in the last 12 months Lonhro had improved physically and had developed an unusual and amazing ability to understand what racing was all about.

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