Two dairy farmers’ sons from New Zealand and a billionaire Chinese coal miner have combined to win the $6 million Cox Plate in one of the greatest finishes in the race’s history on a Moonee Valley circuit that is earmarked for demolition.

Jockey James McDonald had to squeeze every inch of courage out of mare Via Sistina’s famed staying prowess to hold off stablemate Buckaroo by a nose to win the country’s premier weight-for-age event for the second year running.

“It was a sensational feeling ... her incredible will to win shone through there. She is a champion racehorse,” McDonald said. “I am so proud of her. She deserved to be [spoken of] in the same breath as Sunline and those sorts of horses with two Cox Plates.”

The jockey aboard Buckaroo spoke with disbelief. “I just couldn’t get

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