News

Million-dollar cup lands at Kialla school

By Brynne Timewell

Aug 4, 2026

Sheila Laxon became the first woman to train a Melbourne Cup winner in 2001. Photo by Contributed

It’s not every Wednesday that a piece of Melbourne Cup history rolls into your school grounds, but for a Kialla school, the three-handled, 18-carat gold cup did just that.

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The Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour launched in 2003, and has since travelled more than a million kilometres, visiting over 700 destinations, both nationally and internationally.

On Wednesday, July 29, as part of the 2026 tour, students at St Anne’s College got to hold the million-dollar cup as they welcomed trailblazing trainer Sheila Laxon, who is headlining the tour.

In 2001, Laxon became the first woman to train a Melbourne Cup winner when Ethereal raced to glory.

Laxon was in the winner’s enclosure again in 2024 when Knight’s Choice, which she co-trains with husband John Symons, took out the cup at odds of 100/1.

Other than getting to feel a million bucks, students heard Laxon’s story, from her early days as a show jumper to becoming a successful trainer.

Since 2003, the tour has reached tens of thousands of people, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for local causes.

The visit to St Anne’s College forms part of the build-up to the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.