ne would imagine that as the first Cox Plate winner, that Violoncello would have a special place in Australian Racing history, but his name is likely relegated to the answer of an obscure trivia question unfortunately. The stallion has an interesting story being bred by James de Rothschild in Great Britain in 1916. He was by Valens, a somewhat moderate stallion who was perhaps more notable as being a grandson of the great Bend Or. Violoncello was to be only his fourth stakeswinner with two of the others in King Sol and Volta winning the best sprint races in Britain in the King’s Stand Stakes and July Cup respectively. As a result, Violoncello was kept to the shorter distances in the Northern Hemisphere in contrast to his
