How a $1000 mare from Walcha who produced a miracle with Knight’s Choice in the 2024 Melbourne Cup

A pair of small time breeders from the tiny town of Walcha in New South Wales bred Knight’s Choice on a shoestring budget and defied the odds as he grew up in the midst of a crippling drought.

Charity worker Tim Lambert and his stepfather Norm Bazeley were dreaming to produce a Saturday-class horse when they purchased a mare online for $1000 to breed from their farm near the tiny town of Walcha.

Instead, they produced a Melbourne Cup miracle with Knight’s Choice, who beat racing’s biggest names at Flemington on Tuesday.

The pair of small-time breeders, who run Elswick Park, defied the odds as much as their horse did on Tuesday when they sent Midnight Pearl for a date with unproven sire Extreme Choice for a service fee of just $22,000 in 2018.

The result was Knight’s Choice, who was raised a year later in the midst of a crippling drought.

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“We have two mares on the property at the moment and she is one of them,” Lambert said.

“We got her online for $1000, she has had a few foals and Knight’s Choice was one, we went to Extreme Choice when he was only $22,000 service fee – he is about ten times that now ($275,000).

“We sold him at Magic Millions. We are a small farm so we do it all our self, we sat at the sales for seven days and talked to everyone who came by his box to look at him.

Knight’s Choice comes from the tiny town of Walcha in New South Wales. Picture: Supplied

“There was the usual stuff where people came and told us he is too small, he is this, he is that, the mare did nothing and hasn’t produced anything – the usual knockers.

“(Trainers) John Symons and Sheila (Laxon) trained the mother back in the day, so they came and looked at him and we sold it to them for $85,000.

“He was always small, but very well put together.”

Melbourne Cup winner Knight’s Choice as a yearling. Picture: supplied.

Walcha is known more for its cattle and sheep exports, but can now lay claim to producing two Melbourne Cup winners.

While Lambert works in Brisbane, his farm in country New South Wales now holds a special place in history.

“Walcha has a population of about 3700,” he said.

“It is a country town that produces cattle and sheep, it is near Armidale.

Melbourne Cup winners John Symons (left) and Sheila Laxon (middle) celebrate with a drink after purchasing Knight’s Choice from Norm Bazeley (far right) at the Magic Millions sale. Picture: Supplied

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“It is a very small town, but funny enough there was another Cup winner bred in Walcha in 1904 (Acrasia), so it has been a while between drinks.

“Coming from a small farm like ours, you hope to maybe breed a Saturday-class horse, it was highly unlikely he was going to be a Melbourne Cup winner.

“We were stoked when (Knight’s Choice) won the Winx Guineas last year to be honest, it was a feather in our cap.”

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Fittingly, Midnight Pearl’s former owners Richard and Kaye Waldron bought into Knight’s Choice when he was purchased by Symons and Laxon at the Magic Millions.

Lambert and Bazeley have a weanling filly by The Autumn Sun, who is a half sister to Knight’s Choice, while Midnight Pearl is also currently in foal to Capitalist.

Originally published as How a $1000 mare from Walcha who produced a miracle with Knight’s Choice in the 2024 Melbourne Cup