Gilded Venom wins again

Star galloper Gilded Venom laid down his claims to be Western Australia's best racehorse with victory in the $250,000 G2 Cox Stakes (2100m) at Ascot on Wednesday.

Despite warnings from trainer Steve Wallace that the five-year-old son of Golden Snake was at the end of his tether, Gilded Venom was never threatened to win comfortably from Annenkov and The Fuzz.

Sitting outside frontrunner Mission Critical, Gilded Venom, with Patrick Carbery aboard, grabbed the lead at the top of the straight and was not headed thereafter.

The win continued a sterling summer for Gilded Venom, which has won three races - including Perth's richest race the Railway Stakes - and collected nearly $1 million for his owners.

Gilded Venom is considered an unlikely starter for the $400,000 Perth Cup (2400m) on New Year's Day.

The horse has been handed a hefty 58.5kg, three kilos more than any Cox Stakes runner-up Annenkov.

The run of the race came from The Fuzz, which was trapped wide throughout the run but still managed to finish strongly in the straight.