Champion jockey Glen Boss talks about mighty mare Makybe Diva on the 20th anniversary of her third straight Melbourne Cup triumph
Champion jockey Glen Boss is having a ball in outback Queensland as part of the Melbourne Cup tour. On the 20th anniversary of Makybe Diva’s third straight Cup triumph, Boss takes a trip down memory lane with the locals at Normanton.
When legendary US golf commentator Jim Nantz famously declared Adam Scott’s winning putt in the 2013 US Masters as a “life-changer,” those words could have easily been applied to champion jockey Glen Boss after he steered Makybe Diva to a third straight Melbourne Cup victory eight years earlier.
The loveable “c’mon Aussie” Scott became the first Australian to win the green jacket at Augusta and he’s still dining off that incredible achievement that is yet to be emulated by any of his compatriots.
In the same way, the now 55-year-old Boss has achieved something that may never be repeated – and he still remembers crossing the finishing post in the 2005 Melbourne Cup like it was yesterday.
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Boss has spent the past few days in outback Queensland town Normanton, about 680 kilometres west of Cairns, to help promote the Melbourne Cup tour on the 20th anniversary of mighty mare Makybe Diva’s third straight victory in the race that stops a nation.
It’s as far away from Flemington as you can get, but being able to showcase the 18-carat gold handcrafted Cup trophy, worth a staggering $850,000, has brought back a flood of fond memories for the man affectionately known as ‘Bossy’.
“It’s been 20 years, that’s the first thing that grabs me,” said Boss, the winner of 90 Group 1s during a stellar career that ended in 2021.
“I don’t feel like I’m 20 years older. It’s crazy because when you come out to communities like here (Normanton) and you mention Makybe Diva, everyone goes ‘on my God’.
"A champion becomes a legend..." Relive Makybe Diva’s history-making third Melbourne Cup success. ðŸ†ðŸ†ðŸ† pic.twitter.com/846RCL94aY
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 1, 2020
“It’s still very relevant in their memories and when you say to them that it was 20 years ago, you get the same reaction.
“They can tell you where they were, what they were doing and who they were with around that time, especially when she won the third Cup.
“Then you ask them ‘can you name three Melbourne Cup winners since’ and they go ‘no, I can’t’ so she’s left a big footprint.”
Boss is having the time of his life in Normanton before he returns to his Gold Coast home on Tuesday.
He watched his beloved Maroons win the State of Origin series against NSW last Wednesday at a local watering hole called the Purple Pub in the town’s main street.
Then on Saturday he rode a horse called Huffie, which is bred by Gympie trainer Terry Chinner, who took Boss under his wing when he started his career as a jockey at age 15 in 1984.
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Boss said his first Melbourne Cup victory in 2003 was “life-changing” but that was just the start of a magical story that lives in folklore.
“When you go three in a row, it’s amazing,” Boss said.
“I’m 55 now and I’m not an old man by any means but as time goes on, the achievement definitely becomes more precious because the memories are still very vivid – I can retrace every stride (of Makybe Diva’s 2005 Cup triumph).
“It becomes more relevant because no-one has gotten even close to doing that and you wonder ‘wow, will it happen again?’
“Maybe it will but you just have to understand the logistics involved in getting a horse to do that – it’s all but impossible, but it can be done, it’s been done, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”
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Boss said he liked to visit the 26-year-old Makybe Diva at least once a year at a breeding farm founded by her owner Tony Santic at Gnarwarre, just west of Geelong in Victoria, where the mare is enjoying her retirement.
And the champion jockey, who won one of his four Cox Plates on Makybe Diva, still gets emotional when he sees the old girl.
“She just looks great,” he said.
“She’s 26 now and still running around the paddock.
“You can see she’s aged, she’s starting to get that muscle wastage and a little bit of grey, but she’s still pretty spritely.
“I don’t know how much longer she’ll be here, she’s closer to the end, so I’ll visit her again in the spring.
“It’s crazy how emotional I get when I see her. I’m very much in awe of what she did for me and not just for me but everyone involved.
“She took me on that journey, I didn’t really have to do much. I just had to do the right things and not disappoint her and keep her out of trouble.”
The next stop on the Melbourne Cup tour is Cairns in north Queensland where the former voice of the famous race, Greg Miles, will accompany the trophy.
Now in its 23rd year, the tour will visit a host of regional towns and cities across Australia before finishing in Melbourne on Cup Day on November 4.
Originally published as Champion jockey Glen Boss talks about mighty mare Makybe Diva on the 20th anniversary of her third straight Melbourne Cup triumph
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