The trainers of last year’s Melbourne Cup winner have not received their cut of the prize money after it was sent to the wrong bank account. In November Sheila Laxon and John Symons pulled off a huge upset when Knight’s Choice won the £4 million race at Flemington at odds of 90-1.
The first prize-money for the race was £2.3m but while the sum has now been distributed to winning connections, none has reached Laxon and Symons. Their cut, which amounted to £233,000, appears to have been issued by Racing Victoria to an account the trainers no longer use. The administrative bungle is now in the hands of lawyers as attempts are made to find out where the money has gone.
"John and Sheila raised this matter with the ATA Queensland a few weeks ago when the prize money payment error was first recognised," Queensland ATA representative Cameron Partington told Racenet.com. "In turn, I involved the federal ATA office and CEO Stephen Bell given Racing Victoria's role here in being responsible for Melbourne Cup prize money payments and the significance of the issue.
"In the last week, the ATA at both state and Federal levels have been in constant dialogue with John, Sheila, and both Racing Queensland and Racing Victoria, encouraging all parties to work together to resolve the error. "It's an extremely unfortunate situation that no doubt is causing John and Sheila enormous stress at a time when they should be still basking in the celebration of their success.
