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.
Jockey Robbie Dolan (centre) hoists the Melbourne Cup with trainers Sheila Laxon and John Symons.Credit: Eddie Jim
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.
Documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Thursday by Esprit Racing’s sole director, Judith Sutcliffe, shows the company had only a few assets including a horse float, a Holden Camaro and equine therapy equipment at the time of its collapse.
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.
Symons said they only trained for Esprit Racing and that the company bought horses – “specked them at the sales” – and then sold shares in them.
“They never advanced [us] anything,” Symons told this masthead on Friday.
“It’s bullshit. And the people that are in those horses are going to come forward and say that. Because they have paid [Esprit Racing] for those horses. It’s just rubbish.
“We could not have any interest in the company whatsoever, and we didn’t.”
Esprit Racing’s had one director, Judith Sutcliffe, from Tarneit at the time of its collapse, according to the company’s records filed with the corporate regulator.
According to the records, Sutcliffe is 82 and lives in a retirement home and has previously used the surname Kirby as well as Sutcliffe, according to Esprit’s company records filed with the corporate watchdog. This masthead was unable to contact her directly.
Before its liquidation, Esprit’s accountant was Michael Kirby, according to company records.
Symons said Judith Sutcliffe was Kirby’s mother.
Kirby declined to comment on Thursday, directing this masthead to Esprit’s liquidator.
“It’s got nothing to do with me, talk to the company,” he said.
This masthead asked Kirby specifically whether Judith Sutcliffe was his mother or another relative, and whether he knew how she had decided to appoint Jirsch Sutherland as a liquidator. He did not respond to those questions.
Kirby first became involved with Symons and Laxon as an associate in 2014.
The trainers were bankrupted after losing a Victorian Supreme Court civil case brought against them by former friends – Frank and Karen Butler and Glenn Fielding – over the ownership of horses in 2014.
After the trial, their company JSL Racing Pty Ltd – John and Sheila Laxon Racing – was taken over by JSL Racing (Australasia) which then became Esprit Racing, at the time owned 100 per cent by then director Michael Kirby.
Kirby also operated accountancy firm, XO Accounting Pty Ltd, with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.
At the time, Kirby provided a personal “financial guarantee” for the trainers to be licensed in Victoria and later in Queensland on the condition they worked as employees of Esprit Racing “for training purposes only and will not be involved in the finance aspect of the business”.
Kirby and Symons bought last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Knight’s Choice for $85,000 at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale before selling the horse to current owners Cameron Bain and Richard and Kaye Waldron.
Symons said they parted ways with Esprit Racing two years ago because they alleged that the company was not paying staff and the trainers “were getting a bad name because of it”.
“He put his mother in there [the company], that’s why we ran away,” Symons said.
“[He] put that the company was registered at 1 Dicky Beach, Sunshine Coast -we rented that house some six years ago.
“We did a deal to walk away from the company because he had a heap of horses, so we said we would do 12 months training for him for nothing … and then we are walking.
“There’s not one bit of correspondence that he could show that we owe him any money. It’s the opposite. He owes us.”
Soon after the split, Symons and Laxon registered their new business name, Symons-Laxon Racing, with Racing Queensland. They expected that account to be automatically updated with Racing Victoria through the Racing Australia database.
When asked why they were not taking legal action against Esprit Racing, Symon said: “Because we didn’t put the money in his bank.”
Esprit Racing appointed liquidators from advisory firm Jirsch Sutherland on February 4.
A spokesperson for the liquidator Malcolm Howell said: “Malcolm’s investigations are just commencing, given it’s still early in the appointment (he was appointed on Tuesday 4th), and letters are being sent out to gather more information.
“At this stage Malcolm has only spoken to the director, Judith,” the spokesperson said.
