Danny Russell and Sarah Danckert
Trainers John Symons and Sheila Laxon have denied owing more than half a million dollars to a collapsed company at the centre of their Melbourne Cup prizemoney dispute.
The trainers say they are, in fact, owed $26,000 in outstanding fees by Esprit Racing, the company they worked for as trainers from 2014 until 2023.
Esprit Racing was sent into liquidation this week, almost two months after the trainers’ $464,000 cut of last year’s Melbourne Cup prizemoney was paid into the company’s account by Racing Victoria.
Symons and Laxon have launched legal action against Racing Victoria in a bid to recover the money. Racing Victoria maintains it paid the prizemoney into an account registered with them for Laxon and Symons.
One of the assets on the report is crossed out as though it were improperly entered. It appears to state: “Laxon & Symons horse” or “Laxon & Symons loan”. That now disclaimed asset was initially listed as being worth $569,875.
The report also shows in the section titled, “Money owed to the company”, that it is owed $569,875 for “advances”, though the names of who the advances were made to are redacted from the report.
The company also states it owes its creditors more than $1 million, with those creditors all redacted from the report by the liquidator.