Two weeks later, Lonho looked invincible in the Cox Plate-Gr1 (2,040m) with recent stars Sunline and Northerly missing and only Defier and Fields of Omagh joining Lonhro from the 2002 field. There were doubts over Lonhro handling the Moonee Valley surface, but his class was expected to overcome any problems. Then, in the 40 minutes before the race, it began to rain, continuing through to the race itself. The track was dead but soggy. In the running, Fields of Omagh hit the lead around the turn as Defier challenged and Lonhro lost ground trying to balance up for the straight. In the straight, Fields of Omagh refused to give in to Defier with Lonhro closing down the outside. Fields of Omagh crossed the line to win by a long neck from Defier with Lonhro a half length away third. For the second year running, Lonhro had failed to run as well as expected in the Cox Plate. Critics claimed that the horse was a fair weather champion, dominant in small weight-for-age fields but unable to cope with the pressure of a larger field.