Channel 9 prefers travel show to Cox Plate at 5.30pm

CHANNEL 9 and Moonee Valley are embroiled in a Cox Plate telecast tug of war, after the network backed a travel show as a better ratings bet than Australia's greatest weight-for-age race, reports the Melbourne Herald Sun.It says: The Moonee Valley Racing Club had locked in the Cox Plate for 5.35pm on Saturday week, in keeping with the race time for the past two years and a start time that has been locked in and advertised for six months.But Nine is adamant its four-hour coverage of the showpiece

CHANNEL 9 and Moonee Valley are embroiled in a Cox Plate telecast tug of war, after the network backed a travel show as a better ratings bet than Australia's greatest weight-for-age race, reports the Melbourne Herald Sun.

It says: The Moonee Valley Racing Club had locked in the Cox Plate for 5.35pm on Saturday week, in keeping with the race time for the past two years and a start time that has been locked in and advertised for six months.

But Nine is adamant its four-hour coverage of the showpiece meeting will conclude at 5.30pm, with Getaway, its stable show in that timeslot, seen as a better lead-in to the 6pm news. A Nine source said the network was already stretching to run its coverage beyond 5pm.

"All the other race clubs run their big races, like the Caulfield Cup, Golden Slipper and Doncaster Mile, well before 5pm," the source said.