Episode 289: Glen Boss

At last we catch up with one of the superstars of the Australian riding ranks. We launch straight into Glen’s memories of the freakish mare Makybe Diva who gave him three consecutive Melbourne Cup victories. He still gets goosebumps when he talks about the amazing staying mare. He talks of the 1998 Melbourne Cup when he hit the front on Champagne and thought he was home. Glen couldn’t believe it when Jezabeel fought back to win. The great jockey takes us back to childhood days at Beaudesert and his obsession with horses from an early age. He adored his years at Pony Club. Glen recalls the defining moment at Gympie races when he knew he wanted to be a jockey. He looks back on his two rewarding apprenticeships- the first with Terry Chinner at Gympie and the second with Kaye Tinsley on the Gold Coast. Glen talks about his fiery nature in those early years and the careless riding that brought him many suspensions. He looks back on the fateful day he met his future wife Sloane, the mother of his two children. Glen talks of the shock he received when the Australian Tax Office swooped at the completion of his apprenticeship. He was forced to sell a precious keepsake in order to pay the rent. Glen tells the story of the Ipswich treble that put he and Sloane back in the black. This was the day he realised he could handle pressure better than most.   The jockey talks of son Tayte and daughter Carter who grew up in Melbourne, and have chosen to make their homes there. He pays tribute to the NSW trainer who was instrumental in getting him south of the border. He remembers the morning he asked Tommy Smith if he could ride some work for Tulloch Lodge. Glen vividly recalls his maiden Gr 1 win on the enigmatic Telesto, and several of his subsequent career highlights. There have been so many it’s hard to know where to start. The champion jockey talks of the days when he had to wear contact lenses in races, and spectacles when he went out to dinner. Bossy takes us back to the lowest point of his long career- the Macau fall that went within an ace of leaving him quadriplegic. His own diagnosis and the steps he took immediately after the fall, probably prevented total disaster. Of all the great trainers with whom Glen has been associated, there’s one who left a lasting impression on the great jockey. This is almost certainly the longest podcast we’ve ever presented. When you talk to an achiever like Glen Boss, time passes quickly.