The son who turned down $2.3m and won the Melbourne Cup for his dad
They said Cameron Bain was crazy when he knocked back a huge offer for Knight’s Choice. But he won the nation’s biggest race on Tuesday after keeping it for his father, in what was a groundbreaking win for the horse’s trainers and jockey too.
What a way to just about double your money.
It was all thanks to a “crazy” decision to turn down selling a horse for $2.3m last year just because a bloke wanted to own and race horses with his father.
There was “plenty of vitriol” about taking that option, Dad said with a chuckle.
But on Tuesday, his son’s 80-1 outsider Knight’s Choice triumphed in the biggest race of them all, taking home $4.4m for winning the Melbourne Cup in a boilover.
It was 100-1 with some bookmakers, and that might not have even been the best storyline.
There was the groundbreaking female trainer who won her second Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, 23 years after she won her first.
Sheila Laxon, who trains with John Symons on the Sunshine Coast, is now a perfect two wins from two starts in the race that stops the nation. What a record that is.
A winning jockey, Robbie Dolan, who was a reality television singing show contestant just two years ago. It was his first Cup ride.
“Pinch me, I’m dreaming” he shouted after holding off Warp Speed at the line. Okita Soushi ran third.
And for the dad, retiree Rod Bain from Seymour in central Victoria, there was a gold owner’s trophy handed to him by son Cameron on the Flemington turf and the promise his kid will now buy him a brand new Ford Raptor ute.
It turns out the Melbourne Cup isn’t the sole preserve these days of billionaires, European horses or superstar trainers after all.
It still turns up stories. It still matters.
No one really thought Knight’s Choice – which had cost its owners $85,000 to buy – had a chance on a warm Flemington afternoon in front of about 90,000 spectators.
But Cameron Bain and his father Rod, from Seymour in central Victoria, were confident.
“I had all the pressure on me!”, a jubilant Rod exclaimed to The Australian in the mounting yard minutes after the race had been run and stunningly won.
“Back in the earlier days, when the horse won three in a row, he (son Cameron) got offered big money for it. It was $2.3m from Hong Kong,” Rod continued, beaming with exuberance after punching the air with jubilation.
“He didn’t sell it. And his exact words were ‘I’m keeping it for Dad, I want him to enjoy it’. The vitriol from everyone about that decision … ‘Who are these dickheads who refused that money?’ they said. I’ve had that pressure and I’m just so overwhelmed that it got up for him.”
Cameron Bain, who owns engineering firm Mincore, flew in from a mining job he’s on in Kunming, southwest China, catching an overnight flight to land at 7am and then headed to Flemington a few hours later.
He was thankful it was a good 10 degrees warmer than it had been in the Chinese autumn. As was Knight’s Choice, which thrives when temperatures rise.
“Wet tracks, it doesn’t like it. Today, hot weather; firm track. It’s a Queensland horse,” Cameron Bain explained.
He said his dad had gotten him into horses after he had asked “what can we do together” and they went on to have a few runners with Symons and Laxon.
“They’ve all done well at city level and yes we got that offer for $2.3m for Knight’s Choice. Everyone said ‘this guy’s crazy’ and ‘what person would do that?’ But we knew we had something special. So we’re not crazy. We do it for fun. It was just a matter of finding which race best suits it. The Melbourne Cup has clearly shown he is a stayer and has a strong finish.”
Laxon’s only other Melbourne Cup runner was Ethereal, which won in 2001, and she said being back at Flemington had brought plenty of happy memories back.
Her five grandchildren were in the crowd and daughter Lucy was allowed to attend too – “Lucy wasn’t there the first time (in 2001) because she had been naughty in school,” Laxon explained with a laugh.
Laxon said her secret was lots of work for the horses up in the hills.
“Training like they do in England. Lots of conditioning work and not much galloping. Get them rock-hard fit,” Laxon said.
“He’s hopeless on wet tracks and initially there was a bit of rain forecast and then it got dryer and dryer and dryer, and we thought ‘wow’.
“I didn’t know how good he might be. But he’s just proven it.”
Laxon admitted she had told Cameron Bain to sell the horse when the $2.3m offer came in after it won the Winx Guineas last year on the Sunshine Coast.
“He said no, Dad gets so much pleasure out of him racing and winning.”
And Dad? Well, Rod Bain couldn’t have been more elated.
“The pressure is off me!”
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