Robbie Dolan nearly gave up on his dream of being a jockey to become a singer, but he hit the greatest note in his career when Knight’s Choice dazzled with a huge 90-1 shock in a thrilling Lexus Melbourne Cup.
The Irish-born rider, who originally comes from County Kildare, moved to Australia in search of more opportunities eight years ago and despite winning two Group 1s in the space of five months between October 2021 and March 2022, he came close to pursuing a life in music instead.
His talents saw him star on the hit TV show The Voice Australia as well as performing at the Cox Plate two years ago, but Dolan saved his best performance for the saddle and not the microphone on his debut ride in the Flemington showpiece.
Settled towards the rear of the field after breaking from stall five, Dolan took the brave route of going up the inside rail to mount Knight’s Choice’s challenge and waited for the gaps to come.
They appeared seamlessly and the duo burst through in the final furlong before holding off Japanese challenger Warp Speed by a short-head at the iconic winning post. Okita Soushi finished third, with Zardozi back in fourth.
Absurde was best of the Irish and British challengers in fifth, while his stablemate Vauban disappointed in the race again in 11th. Onesmoothoperator was a further place back in 12th while Sea King finished 14th.
“Pinch me – I think I’m dreaming,” an elated Dolan said. “It’s incredible, I cannot believe it. I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years the other night and I thought my chance was getting him to stay the trip and hopefully he’d rattle home and quicken up good like he can do.
“He just proved everybody wrong. This is the biggest race in the world and I cannot even put into words how much it means to win it. It’s got me in tears, but I think I’ll be singing for the rest of my life after that!
“There wasn’t enough room to come on the outside so I cut the corner. Once he spotted the gaps he found another gear. He’s only small, but he gives his all and that’s halfway to winning the battle. Waiting for that short-head call felt like a lifetime.”
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon, Knight’s Choice finished fifth in the Bendigo Cup just last week. However, that did not deter Dolan from expecting a big run.
He added: “A lot of people doubted him, but I honestly didn’t. He ran really well at Bendigo and was unlucky not to be placed. I’ve never ridden in the Melbourne Cup before, but I’d felt like I’d done so ten times before because I ran the race over in my head so much. It panned out exactly how I thought it would.
“When they went quickly I just decided to ride him for luck as he’s got such a turn of foot, but what a training performance too – you cannot do it without John and Sheila. They were so confident in him even before he got here.”
A chance meeting with Laxon while singing on a Melbourne Cup-themed cruise ship a few years ago proved the remarkable catalyst for Dolan’s breakthrough glory in Australia’s most iconic race. His supporters on the track included his father, Bobby, who made a surprise visit from Ireland.
For Laxon, however, being in Flemington’s famous winner’s enclosure was not unfamiliar territory. Born in Wales, she had created history previously when becoming the first female trainer to win the Melbourne Cup 23 years ago with Ethereal.
“What an amazing ride by Robbie – he’s not just a good singer!” she said. “He always had faith in the horse and he studied the race so hard that we didn’t give him instructions as he knew what to do.
“It brings it all back and I love that an Australian horse has done it. It’s the people’s cup and that’s what it’s all about.
“We’re just a small group of people and we’re so thrilled. It takes a whole group of people to get us here today. We’ll celebrate this quietly initially; when you win a race like this it takes a little while to register, but I’m over the moon.”
For her joint-trainer Symons, it was the first time he could bask in Melbourne Cup glory, although like Dolan, he was certain Knight’s Choice would outrun his odds beforehand.
“We wouldn’t have been here if we didn’t think we could do it, but what a thrill that was,” he said.
“You work with these horses 24 hours a day and seven days a week, so you know where you’ve got them. We’d have been disappointed if he didn’t run a good race. To run top-five in a race like this you’d walk away happy, but to win it is a dream come true.”
Japan’s 18-year wait for another Melbourne Cup win goes on, but there was no disappointment from Warp Speed’s connections despite being agonisingly denied.
His jockey Akira Sugawara said: “The plan was to go a bit more forward, but we couldn’t and changed to plan B. Watching previous Melbourne Cups we knew we could come from the back, so we got into a rhythm and came through the field. It was a really good run.”
Read these next:
Punter nets whopping A$3.2 million from $100 Melbourne Cup bet
Ronan Keating lands a chunky punt as fellow Irish singer rides to Melbourne Cup glory
font : Racing Post
