a day ago
Queensland stars Knight's Choice and Antino on a collision course for 2025 Cox Plate
Knight's Choice and fellow Queensland star Antino could be on a Cox Plate collision course as the Melbourne Cup champion prepares to kick off his much-anticipated spring campaign with a trial at Bendigo on Tuesday morning.
It will be the first time since February that six-year-old gelding Knight's Choice has run in an official trial due to southeast Queensland's horror stretch of wet weather.
'He's a little bit hairy but he'll clean up in the next few weeks,' John Symons, who trains his partnership with his wife Sheila Laxon, said.
'He's actually bouncing out of his skin. We couldn't be happier with him.
'He never trials that well though, it's not his caper. Traditionally he always takes a few runs to come right.'
Symons and Laxon have nominated Knight's Choice for both the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate this spring as last year's $91 Cup roughie looks to defend his crown on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington.
'Obviously getting back to the Melbourne Cup will be the ultimate goal,' Symons said.
'We haven't got anything set in concrete for how we're going to do that.
'We just want to bring him along to where we're happy, and tomorrow (Tuesday) is the first stepping stone in that process.'
Brisbane's premier trainer Tony Gollan is targeting the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on October 25 as Doomben Cup champion Antino's grand final.
Antino and Knight's Choice are battling for favouritism to be crowned Queensland Horse Of The Year at a gala ceremony in Brisbane on Sunday week.
Antino is an absolute star! The Queenslander dominates the Doomben Cup for @tonygollan � @blake_shinn
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025
•
Last year's Cox Plate champion Via Sistina is considered a lock for the Australian Horse Of The Year award.
'I suppose it's out of him (Knight's Choice) and Antino but it depends what people want,' Symons said about the Queensland award.
'For the first Queensland horse to win the Cup in 130-odd years, it's a pretty big achievement.
'I don't know how you line that up with a Doomben Cup or a Toorak Handicap (which Antino won last spring).
'I know what I'd do but I'm in his (Knight's Choice) corner.'
Asked about a possible Cox Plate tilt for Knight's Choice, Symons said: 'It's a possibility but the best way we get to the Melbourne Cup will determine what we do.
'I'm not going to say we've got some big plans. We'll let the horse do the talking to us and then we'll run him where we have to, like last spring, to have him ready for the ultimate and that's the Melbourne Cup.
'We were always happy with him last year, even though his form looked terrible on paper, and thank god it was dry on Melbourne Cup Day.
'I suppose the weather will play a big part again because we know he's not competitive when it's wet.'
What did we just witness?! 🤯
KNIGHT'S CHOICE holds on to win the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup!
🎥 @wwos | #MelbourneCup | #MelbCupCarnival
— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 5, 2024
The spring campaign for Knight's Choice last year went Underwood Stakes, Turnbull Stakes, Caulfield Cup and Bendigo Cup before Brisbane-based Irish jockey Robbie Dolan steered him to the ultimate prize in Australian racing.
'We might need to race him a bit more, not that we want to but that's just how it's turned out with him missing the winter up here (in Queensland) because it's been so wet,' Symons said.
'We've been frustrated for all the winter carnival because we looked at some of those results and we thought he could've beaten those horses.'
Symons said Knight's Choice would likely go first-up into the Group 1 $750,000 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield (1400m) on August 30 and then possibly the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 13.
'It'll be a similar program to last year but we might swing it around a little bit because he hasn't raced for so long (since last year's Melbourne Cup) and there's going to be some cobwebs there,' Symons said.
