A longshot from the Sunshine Coast has caused a sensation in the Melbourne Cup, providing local trainer Sheila Laxon with a long-awaited second win on the big stage.
Knight’s Choice, an 80-1 outsider with bookmakers, prevailed in a photo finish with Japanese raider Warp Speed.
Ridden expertly by Irish expat jockey Robbie Dolan, the five-year-old surged past his rivals and hung on in a thrilling finish for trainers Laxon and John Symons.
It gave Laxon and Symons their first Cup triumph in partnership, after Laxon became the first female to train the winner with Ethereal in 2001.
“What a great ride by Robbie,” Symons told Nine.
“He stayed in, took the risk, went through the pack.
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“I was worried and he got further back than we’d talked about, but great ride.
“What a thrill.”
Laxon said her latest win brought back vivid memories of Ethereal’s triumph, and beamed with pride after Knight’s Choice upset the international contenders.
“You know what’s great? I love it being done for the Australians,” she said.
“The Australian horse has done it and Robbie’s Australian now as well.
“I’m thrilled to win the Cup. It’s the people’s cup and that’s what it’s all about.”
A talented singer, Dolan appeared on The Voice in 2022 and performed Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘The Horses’ at that year’s Cox Plate.
“I think I’ll be singing for the rest of my life after that. What the hell,” the 28-year-old said.
Remarkably, it was a first Group 1 victory for Knight’s Choice, who finished fifth in his previous start at last week’s Bendigo Cup.
Dolan produced what 2021 Cup-winning jockey James McDonald described as “one of the best rides I’ve ever seen” in Australia’s greatest race.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I feel like I’ve ridden it 10 times because I have ridden it in my head 100 times,” Dolan told Nine.
“To win it with him (father Bobby) here and my little daughter Maisy and my partner Christine, I’m going to cry again. Jesus Christ.
“Look, you can’t do it without (trainers) Sheila and John. They were so confident in this horse even before he got to this race.
“A lot of people doubted them. And to be honest, I didn’t.”
Dolan – from County Kildare, west of Dublin – moved with his family to Australia eight years ago and now lives in Queensland.
Connections of Knight’s Choice faced a dilemma when they refused a $2.3 million offer from Hong Kong for the horse after he won the Winx Guineas (1600m) on the Sunshine Coast last winter.
Knight’s Choice had cost $85,000 as a yearling and few would have blamed the owners for selling.
But they refused and hatched a plan with Symons and Laxon to chase one of Australian racing’s greatest prizes.
“(Owner) Cameron (Bain) knocked back quite a sizeable offer the media have kept reminding us about, that horses don’t come out and win that sort of money,” Symons said at the winners’ post-race press conference.
“Can someone please write, for him and his dad, this is the pinnacle – and what about his decision now?
“He’s turned $2.3 million into whatever the first prize-money is today.”
Knight’s Choice earned $4.4 million for his win – from an $8.56 million Cup pool – while connections also got their hands on the famous three-handled trophy, worth another $750,000.
It took the five-year-old gelding’s career prize-money to $5.84 million.
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