CAN SUNSHINE COAST BASED TRAINERS MAKE IT A THIRD GUINEAS WIN IN A ROW?

By Graham Potter | Friday, July 9, 2021

Melbourne Cup winning trainer Sheila Laxon, who trains in partnership with John Symons under the Esprit Racing banner, will be looking to score one for the locals at the Sunshine Coast meeting on Sunday, the last meeting of the Queensland Winter Carnival which was delayed a week following last weekend’s washout.

Symons and Laxon have been based on the Sunshine Coast for some time now and they are one of five local stables looking to keep the major share of the Winx Guineas prise-money at home in a race where the winning connections will pocket $100 500.

The Symons and Laxon team will saddle Without Thinking in the featured Group 3 event.

The So You Think gelding has hardly put a foot wrong in his short, six race career. He finished runner-up in both of his starts in his first prep over 1350m, before being given seven-and-a-half months away from the action … a break which clearly brought him on as he duly proceeded to win three in a row when resuming,

The only blemish, on paper, in his form-line was an unplaced finish last time out when stepping up to Group 3 company for the first time in the Gunsynd Classic and bumping into a horse called Ayrton, who is extremely highly rated.

“I don’t think he really relished that track (Eagle Farm),” said Laxon, referring to the Gunsynd run, “and he got back when he probably should have slid up midfield, where he might have been much more competitive … but, that said, he didn’t really let down like he can, although he did have an argy-bargy as they straightened up as well.

“There were those mitigating circumstances and we just didn’t see the horse we know … so, I think you can forget about that Eagle Farm start.

“I’m just disappointed he has drawn fifteen in the Guineas,” continued Laxon, “but I think he is a class horse … a really class horse. Whether he goes on a wet track … I’m not sure. We’ve had a lot of rain and we are meant to get more, so whether it dries out at all by Sunday we’ll have to wait and see, but he does look like he is a horse that will go better on the top of the ground.

“There are those unknowns and the difficulty of the draw but, like I say, he is a pretty smart horse and he has come through well since his last start.”

Four other trainers … Melissa Taylor, Trevor Miller, Gary Duncan and Natalie McCall … will also be looking to add a local flavour to the results. Taylor saddles Mob Buster, Miller will send out Better Lad, Jack Duncan has Dzsenifer engaged, and Natalie McCall’s stable is represented by Maestoso.

Sunshine Coast trainers, in fact, be looking for a hat-trick of wins in the Winx Guineas after Jack Duncan took out the honours with Wapiti last year and David Vandyke scored with Baccarat Baby back in 2019.

It would be a real feather in their collective cap if they could achieve that!