Sheila Laxon, trainer of Ethereal and the first female trainer of a Melbourne Cup winner, reflects on that momentous day, a day that changed her life forever.
It’s been 20 years since that win in the Melbourne Cup and for Laxon, the memories are still so strong.
“I love when this time of the year comes around and you see her replays and what she managed to achieve,” she told SEN’s This Is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.
“The longer the years between it the more you realise how incredible that run was, she was just an enormous competitor, and did her very best to get to the line first in really awkward circumstances sometimes.
“It’s very vivid, is seems like yesterday when you think about what you did on the day and what she did.”
Ethereal became the 11th horse to compete the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double, doing it on an iconic wet day at Flemington when running down Give The Slip at the post.
“I really didn’t know how she’d measure up against all the very good horses that compete in the Melbourne Cup, but I was very happy with her progress since the Caulfield Cup,” she said.
“I’ve got her as good as I can possibly get her and the rest is in the lap of the gods now.”
If Incentivise is to win Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, he’ll become the 12th in the history of horse racing to complete the cups double.