A ray of hope is shining for Melbourne Cup-winning trainers John Symons and Sheila Laxon.
The training partnership has faced a difficult twelve months with Knight’s Choice, who has only competed in four races since his 2024 Melbourne Cup triumph.
A bout of strangles initially prevented the Cup winner from defending his title last year, and then, persistent wet weather in Queensland during the winter months diminished any prospects of Knight’s Choice returning to winning form.
With Melbourne experiencing a spell of fine weather recently, Knight’s Choice was able to showcase a glimpse of his previous best, winning a jump-out at Caulfield Heath on Wednesday morning.
This performance led Symons to remark, ‘I don’t think I’ve seen him trial better than that’.
“We couldn’t be happier with where he is at,” Symons said.
“He’s had a mixed way of life since he won the Cup.
“He’s always had the ability to do it, (but he’s a) wet track duffer, (but) dry track, like today, you see what he can do.”
Symons conveyed that jockey Dylan Dunn indicated Knight’s Choice could have finished the race with even more authority.
Knight’s Choice must secure qualification for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups this year, having missed the spring carnival last year.
“Three months we were locked up for,” Symons explained.
“We couldn’t do anything with him, and he actually got strangles and was the last horse to get a clearance and he didn’t get cleared until December.
“He’s back now, on all cylinders. We were happy with him up in Queensland, but it just kept on raining.
“His work was compromised up there, but the good thing is he’s had that time away in the sun.
“I don’t think I’ve seen him trial better than that. Dylan said he could have put them away easily, so I’m pretty happy with where we’ve got him.
“I wouldn’t expect too much from his first couple of runs, but after that I would expect to see what he can do.”
Symons shared that he and Laxon would now plan his upcoming racing schedule.
“We’ll look for a mile race, wherever that may be, but it’s probably got to be a quality handicap or a weight-for-age race,” Symons stated.
“We’ve entered him for the Caulfield Cup, and we’ll probably look to take a similar path as the one we took in the year he won the Melbourne Cup.”
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