‘We won’t let them struggle’: Owners back 2024 Melbourne Cup-winning trainers Sheila Laxon and John Symons ahead of Racing Victoria legal fight

The majority owner of Melbourne Cup champion Knight’s Choice is willing to offer the cult horse’s “stressed out” trainers a loan to help them get through a messy legal dispute with Racing Victoria.

The majority owner of Melbourne Cup champion Knight’s Choice is willing to offer the cult horse’s “stressed out” trainers a loan to help them get through a messy legal dispute with Racing Victoria.

John Symons and Sheila Laxon have lodged legal action against Racing Victoria to demand their $464,640 cut of prizemoney from winning the famous race last November.

Their Cup winnings were deposited into an old bank account for Esprit Racing, the company the husband-and-wife trainers used to work for.

The money has not been passed on to Symons and Laxon.

Esprit Racing was sent into liquidation this month and its sole director, Judith Hutchinson, recently filed documents with ASIC claiming Esprit was owed $569,875 by Laxon and Symons.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Symons and Melbourne accountant Michael Kirby bought Cup winner Knight’s Choice in 2021, paying $85,000 at a Gold Coast auction.

“It’s been a real worry. John and Sheila have been really stressed out about it,” said Knight’s Choice’s Melbourne-based majority owner Cameron Bain, who owns mining services company Mincore.

“It’s all about cashflow and they’re running a business.

“The amount of effort they put into getting Knight’s Choice ready for the Melbourne Cup and to obviously win it – it was 12 weeks of their life.

“They’re just thinking ‘how could this be?’ because they just gave so much for him to give him the best chance.

“We’re all chipping in to help them. We’re not going to let them struggle.

“I’ve always said to John and Sheila if you get stuck we’ll help you out, it’s no problem, but they’re a bit too proud for that.

“They’ve got to pay their wages and bills. They’re desperate to get the dollars and it wasn’t their error.”

The Knight's Choice Melbourne Cup fairytale has taken an explosive new turn, with the horse's Queensland trainers suing Racing Victoria to demand their $464,640 cut for winning the famous race. Story: @bendorries76 👇https://t.co/D6SgOdCndO

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) February 5, 2025

• Scary times ahead as emerging stayer aims high

Bain, who only 18 months ago refused a $2.3 million offer from Hong Kong interests to sell Knight’s Choice, said he had no complaints about Victorian racing officials as an owner but it was the “opposite” for Symons and Laxon.

“They just haven’t been able to get through this painful issue,” he said.

Bain said he had spoken to Symons and revealed the trainer was worried about potential repercussions from Victoria Racing Club as the stable and connections targeted the lucrative $2.5m All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington on March 8 for Knight’s Choice.

“We’re worried the horse will get caught up in it as well. It’s really sad for racing,” Bain said.

“That’s a consideration that John said to me. He said ‘look I don’t really want to do any legal action here’ because it may carry over to actions that inadvertently give Knight’s Choice a bad name.”

Bain said he couldn’t understand why the prizemoney debacle had dragged on for so long.

“I’m a bit lost. I thought it would be quite easy to work out but no-one seems to be putting their hand up and owning the problem,” he said.

“I think John and Sheila are a little bit saddened by it. I think they’re happy enough to win the race – it’s just an amazing feat – but I’m going to make sure they’re not disadvantaged commercially.”

Asked whether he was happy to give Symons and Laxon a loan, Bain said: “Yeah, 100 per cent. We can’t sacrifice Knight’s Choice’s prep for the errors of others.”

Lovely return from Melbourne Cup winner Knight's Choice in the opening barrier trial at the Sunshine Coast. Not in his regular colours, similar to the Mission Of Love colours with the black cap. pic.twitter.com/wDFueTmhZV

— Andrew Hawkins (@AndrewNJHawkins) February 3, 2025

• Three-year-old tops Lightning Stakes betting

Bain said Knight’s Choice was in excellent shape for a return to the track since he won the “race that stops a nation” as a $91 roughie.

“As a whole he’s doing everything right and looks to be a different horse, actually. He’s got a real spring to him and he’s certainly matured a bit more which is great,” Bain said.

“We’ll probably bring him down to Victoria next week at Macedon Lodge and really get him settled in for a couple of weeks. Then we’ll look for a race in early March, which hopefully is the All-Star Mile.

“I think he’ll be competitive because he’s really sharp as a fresh, 1600m horse and he’s got that real dash about him.

“It’d be a great drawcard for the races I reckon, the first Melbourne Cup champion to race in the All-Star Mile.”

• Six now exempt from Blue Diamond Stakes ballot

Bain said he was still enjoying the high from the epic Melbourne Cup triumph of Knight’s Choice, with Irish jockey Robbie Dolan on board, and said the gelding had since developed a cult following.

“It’s good for racing. It just shows you don’t have to be a Lloyd Williams or a big stable to win the big races,” he said

“We want to win it (the Cup) again this year. That’s our target race.”

Originally published as ‘We won’t let them struggle’: Owners back 2024 Melbourne Cup-winning trainers Sheila Laxon and John Symons ahead of Racing Victoria legal fight