KEY POINTS:
The New Zealander who was behind the transformation of the Cox Plate has died in Melbourne.
Ian McEwen, who was 77, was chief executive of the Moonee Valley Racing Club, which stages the Cox Plate, from 1970 to 1991.
It was during that time the race developed into the weight-for-age championship of the Southern Hemisphere. The Moonee Valley Gold Cup used to be the club's flagship race.
The club now has a race named in McEwen's honour in August.
In New Zealand, he was the chief executive for the Bay of Plenty Racing Club and Bay of Plenty Trotting Club between 1964 and 1970.
