Champion jockey Glen Boss calls for the Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate to be held at NIGHT

Champion jockey Glen Boss has urged racing bosses to make a radical change to the Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate – two of the biggest horse races in Australia.

Four-time Cox Plate winner Boss, who rode Makybe Diva to three successive Melbourne Cup victories, believes the iconic races should be staged at night.  

Speaking at the launch of the All Star Mile this week, Boss made his case for the big races to be held under the lights.  

‘Could you imagine on a Saturday afternoon, night time, the last race, the Cox Plate,’ Boss said.

‘You have a concert, you have fireworks, let it go out in a big bang.’

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Glen Boss has called for radical changes to the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate

The champion jockey believes the iconic races should be held at night moving forwards

Cricket legend Simon O’Donnell – a racing enthusiast and owner – also backed the call, claiming that the 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 afoot for the 2040m Cox Plate to be the ‘grand final’ of the racing carnival.

Racing organisers are looking to hold the race two weeks after the Melbourne Cup, effectively replacing the Ballarat Cup on November 25. 

If the move gets the green light, the Cox Plate’s prize money could improve from $5million to $8million – putting it on a par with the Melbourne Cup where the winner receives $4.4million. 

Horse trainers are backing the proposal. Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Danny O’Brien said: ‘Fantastic move. Cox Plate as the grand final of the spring will be brilliant.’