Moody: Boss Brisbane Cup Opinion Wrong

Jockey Glen Boss has questioned the validity of the Brisbane Cup, stating that Australia has enough two-mile races and that a 3200m handicap during June is not required. This caused champion trainer Peter Moody to react, with the outspoken industry player telling racing.com, “We've got about five feature two-mile races in Australia, I don't think that's too many. [Conversely], we've got about 145 feature 1000m-1600-metre races in Australia, surely five two-mile races aren't too many.” Saturday’s Group 2 Brisbane Cup is reverting back to the distance of 3200m since 2016, with seven horses accepting for the 2021 renewal. "It's the first time it's been run at two miles for about a decade, our banner race in this country has been a two-mile race for 150 years," Moody said. "This race has a long, rich history; why can't we cater for all?” Anthony Mithen, prominent breeder and co-host to Moody’s podcast took the side of Boss, stating, "World racing is becoming shorter and shorter and shorter, and I would imagine that the betting is probably gearing that way as well, that the pools are probably bigger on shorter-course races.” Not run in 2020 due to COVID, 2019's race over 2400m was won by Sixties Groove (Sixties Icon). Following Saturday's race, a rather ho-hum affair with just 6 starters, the question mark over a valuable 3200m race in June by Boss does seem to have some validity.