It was an all New Zealand finish in the Cox Plate of 1988, as John Wheeler's Our Poetic Prince piloted by Noel Harris defeated two Kiwi champions in Horlicks and Bonecrusher. Having finished second the year prior as a three-year-old, and losing the Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas in the stewards' room, John was determined for Poetic Prince to get his well deserved Australian Group One.