Melbourne Cup winner Sheila Laxon says falling numbers of school kids engaging in racing a wake-up call for the industry

Sheila Laxon, the first female trainer of the Melbourne Cup, says her experiences on recent Cup tours have her worrying about racing’s future.

Sheila Laxon, pictured with Glen Boss on a Melbourne Cup Tour in 2022, says school kids aren’t as engaged with racing as they once were. Picture: Jay Town

Melbourne Cup winner Sheila Laxon fears for racing’s future because she has noticed schoolkids and the next generation aren’t engaging like they once were.

Laxon, who became the first female to train a Melbourne Cup winner when Ethereal famously completed the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double in 2001, speaks from first-hand experience.

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Since she won the Cup, Laxon has become a regular and popular figure on Melbourne Cup tours which have seen the famous trophy transported all around the country to promote the Cup.

But Laxon, who is struggling for stable staff at the Sunshine Coast stable she operates with John Symons, has spotted a worrying trend in the schools of Australia.

“When I first did the Melbourne Cup tour, wherever I was I would ask the kids how many of them had ridden a horse – half of them put their hands up,” Laxon said.

“But I did one of the tours two years ago and went to a couple of schools and not one kid had ridden a horse – literally not one.

“Back in the day, even if I went to a big city like Sydney or Melbourne, a lot of the kids would put their hands up and say they had ridden horses or were interested in it.

“These days, in a lot of places, they have no kids who have ridden horses.

“This is where I thought racing could be in real trouble, we could be going down the gurgler.

“It was a real wake-up call to me because these schools are where racing’s future generations would be coming from … and it’s not going to happen.”

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Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Sheila Laxon on one of her Cup tours.

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Laxon said the trend was now on show with a lack of suitable stable staff and young track work riders coming through the ranks in many areas of Australia.

The legendary trainer feels modern society has become “too precious” and parents are not encouraging their kids to ride horses or show an interest in racing.

“One of the school Mums told me that racing was too dangerous and I thought what is the world coming to,” Laxon said.

“As you know that is the real go these days, with health and safety.

“Parents are starting to think their children might get hurt if they want to get involved in racing.

“But adventuresome kids and kids with the ability to get on a horse seem to be being turned away.”

Originally published as Melbourne Cup winner Sheila Laxon says falling numbers of school kids engaging in racing a wake-up call for the industry