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Champion jockey Glen Boss calls for Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate to be held at NIGHT, and cricket legend backs radical change
Champion jockey Glen Boss has urged racing bosses to make a radical change in the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate, two of Australia’s biggest horse races.
Boss, a four-time Cox Plate winner who has ridden Makybe Diva to three consecutive Melbourne Cup victories, believes the iconic races should be staged at night.
Speaking at the All Star Mile launch this week, Boss made the case for the great races being held under the lights.
“Can you imagine a Saturday afternoon, at night, the last race, the Cox Plate,” Boss said.
“You’ve got a concert, you’ve got fireworks, let it go out in a big bang.”
Glen Boss has called for sweeping changes to the Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate
The champion jockey believes that iconic races should be held at night in the future.
Cricket legend Simon O’Donnell, owner and racing enthusiast, also backed the proposal, stating that Cox Plate would be the perfect race to be held at night.
The pair’s comments come after the Herald Sun reported that plans are underway for the 2040m Cox Plate to be the “grand finale” of the carnival of racing.
Race organizers are looking to hold the race two weeks after the Melbourne Cup, effectively replacing the Ballarat Cup on November 25.
If the move is greenlit, Cox Plate’s prize money could improve from $5 million to $8 million, putting it on a par with the Melbourne Cup where the winner receives $4.4 million.
Horse trainers support the proposal. Melbourne Cup winning coach Danny O’Brien said: ‘Fantastic move. Cox Plate as the grand finale of spring will be brilliant.