![Sydney trainer Matthew Smith has urged Canberra Racing Club officials to consider moving the Canberra Cup. Picture Getty Images Sydney trainer Matthew Smith has urged Canberra Racing Club officials to consider moving the Canberra Cup. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GzY3iczng7SLWqVgHSV78t/35ec4121-dc0f-4570-95a1-0353fe5270c2.jpg/r0_268_5243_3227_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
One of Sydney's leading trainers has warned the Canberra Cup could need to be moved to retains its status moving forward.
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This year's edition threatens to be one of the smallest in recent memory, with nine of the 15 nominated horses slated to run elsewhere across the weekend.
Four, including three-time Derby winner Explosive Jack have accepted to contest the Group 3 Sky High Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday, with another four set to line up in a Benchmark 78 later in the afternoon.
Matthew Smith's First In Line is one of the six horses nominated solely for Canberra's feature race, however even he isn't sure if he'll make the trip to the ACT.
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"We're not sure," Smith said. "We've got to have a wet track to go down. We'll wait and see on race day, there's a bit of rain forecast.
"If it's a small field, we'll have a look, we'll see what it ends up like. If there's some give in the ground, we might end up in Canberra."
The trainer was disappointed to see the lack of runners in the Canberra Cup and said Thoroughbred Park officials will have to look at changing the programming to ensure deeper fields in the future.
With the Sydney autumn carnival kicking into high gear and prize money only growing, travelling to the ACT becomes a less attractive option for stables.
Instead, the city trainers can opt to remain close to home and cash in in a series of lucrative races at Randwick and Rosehill.
Monday's Canberra Cup is worth $200,000, while $350,000 will be up for grabs in the Sky High Stakes.
Smith said it's vital feature races in smaller regions like Canberra don't clash with the programming in Sydney and Melbourne if they hope to attract high-quality fields.
"It would be a shame for Canberra if it is a weaker race," he said. "They will have to move it somewhere else in the calendar.
"You can't have it clashing with races in Sydney. You don't want races pulling from each other. At the moment, they're all pulling from the same group of horses.
"I'd have to take a closer look at the calendar but there's plenty of opportunity to avoid those races in Sydney and find a better position for the Cup."
Canberra Racing Club chief executive Darren Pearce defended the depth of the nominations on Tuesday, claiming the quality will triumph over quantity.
Wednesday's developments, however, cast a shadow over the quality of the field should the majority opt to race in Sydney.
The Canberra Cup hasn't always been held in March, with the event previously run in October in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup.
The Listed race has been run on the second day of Canberra's Black Opal carnival in recent years. The move ensured a two-day festival rather than splitting up the two races.
As such, any change to the programming would have to weigh up the impact on the carnival as a whole.
Veteran local trainer Gratz Vella can remember the days the race was held in October and threw his support behind returning the Cup to its original slot.
"The horses travelling south to Melbourne were coming to Canberra for the Canberra Cup," Vella said. "They'd come here then go on to Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup.
"We had some good horses come through here, now they don't get a chance."
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