O'BRIEN URGES VRC TO SHORTEN DERBY DISTANCE

Leading trainer Danny O’Brien believes the Victoria Racing Club should get behind a proposal to extend the spring carnival by cutting the distance of its time-honoured Derby to accommodate the Cox Plate date change.

Racing Victoria’s chief executive Andrew Jones and executive general manager of racing Matt Welsh updated the Racing Victoria board on Thursday, relaying the feedback it had received from stakeholders to help the board to decide later this month whether to ratify the radical calendar shifts.

The proposed carnival reconfiguration, which centres on the Cox Plate moving from late October to late November, is just weeks away from a decision as Racing Victoria aims to take greater advantage of the clean air in Melbourne’s sporting calendar and extend the number of Saturdays which attract more than $100 million in wagering turnover.

But potential punter fatigue is among the considerations for extending the spring carnival, while some in Victoria are also fearful of how Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys might try and take advantage of the move away from the traditional October Cox Plate date.

Half a dozen of Australia’s leading trainers, along with the chief executive of the Australian Trainers’ Association, were briefed by Racing Victoria on the proposal on January 24, including Cox Plate-winning trainer O’Brien.

O’Brien welcomed the proposal, saying the Cox Plate - regarded as Australia’s best race - would be much better placed two weeks after Champions day than where it currently sits in October, wedged between the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup week.

“It makes a lot of sense,” O’Brien said.

“It’s been a bit of a nowhere date for it. Seven days after the Caulfield Cup is hardly ideal for it, and the date they’re going to take now is probably more suitable than the date they currently have.

“It’s going to be four weeks later in the season. The three-year-olds get a better run at it, and it gives us a much better chance for our better horses not to start off so early in the winter.”

And O’Brien said the ideal Cox Plate path for a three-year-old could be via a 2000-metre VRC Derby, encouraging the Flemington club to reconsider the 2500-metre distance for its 168-year-old race should the Cox Plate move.

“There’s also a real chance for the VRC to get on board and bring the Derby back to 2000 metres and have a real carnival heading towards the Cox Plate,” he said.

The distance of the Derby has long been debated given the lack of quality at the top end of recent editions and its irrelevance from a breeding perspective. O’Brien has previously alleged the 2500-metre classic prematurely cut short the career of his 2007 Derby winner Villain - who failed to place in his subsequent nine starts before retirement - given the staying test for such a young horse.

The renewed call for the Derby distance change comes just days after 2021 winner Hitotsu was retired, having raced just twice in the past 12 months.

But the VRC has so far expressed opposition to the proposed spring changes, given the climax to the carnival last year’s revamped Champions Day provided.

A detailed racing program was presented by Jones and Welsh at the meeting with trainers last month, which included considerations to shorten key group 1 races to better suit the pathways towards a November Cox Plate.

But O’Brien said he recommended that Racing Victoria retain the distances of other weight-for-age races, such as the Might And Power Stakes, which was proposed to drop from 2000 to 1800 metres.

Godolphin Australia’s head trainer and last year’s winner James Cummings was also in the meeting and got the impression this year’s Cox Plate will be held in November.

“I’m beginning to feel well and truly that it’s so far down the road that it’s well and truly a reality,” Cummings told RSN Radio on Saturday.

“It may work out very, very well. Andrew Jones makes some compelling arguments as to why it should happen, and races have been moved before - some have been moved with great success.”

Racing Victoria’s bookmaking partners have also been consulted regarding their forecasts to wagering turnover should the two November country cup meetings be replaced with group 1 metropolitan race days.

Sources familiar with the process told The Age that the bookmakers indicated turnover would likely double from $60 million to $120 million with the move from Cranbourne Cup to Thousand Guineas day at Caulfield, while the Cox Plate/Manikato Stakes day card attracted about $160 million last year, which would be nearly triple the turnover of Ballarat Cup day. The bookmakers have also indicated they would be prepared to extend their generosities to punters beyond Cup week.

The Racing Victoria board is due to meet in the week of February 13, when any decision to overhaul the calendar is likely to be ratified.

Moonee Valley Racing Club is seeking a prizemoney boost to $8 million for the Cox Plate, which would equal the Melbourne Cup prizemoney. The group 1 Manikato Stakes is also proposed to be held on the new Cox Plate date.

Under the proposal, Racing Victoria would underwrite a November Cox Plate for 2023, 2024 and 2025 by which time the Moonee Valley Racing Club will begin its major course redevelopment.

Story by Damian Ractliffe for The Age

Pic by Racing Photos