Sheila Kathleen Laxon is a New Zealand/Australian racehorse trainer. She was the first female

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

to win the Australian cups double, the

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses ...

and

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

, with her mare

Ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pac ...

in 2001. Her efforts were recognised when she took out the Fred Hoysted Award for the Australian season's outstanding training performance. Laxon was born in

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

, Glamorgan, Wales. Her early childhood was spent on a small farm run by her mother. Her father was away from home much of the time working as a ship's pilot. It was on the farm that Laxon developed a passion for horses through pony clubs, gymkhanas and showjumping. Before emigrating to New Zealand around 1980, she spent time working with English trainer John L. Dunlop at his stables in Arundel, Sussex. In New Zealand in 1983 she married trainer Laurie Laxon who had a large stable with many successful horses. She rode many of them in trackwork, including

Empire Rose Empire Rose (1982–2002) was one of the most popular Thoroughbred mares to race in New Zealand and Australia. She was a gigantic chestnut, only just fitting into the barrier stalls in Melbourne. Trained by Laurie Laxon, one of New Zealand's ...

who won the 1988 Melbourne Cup. She took out her own training license in 1997. In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Laxon was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to racing. Laxon is still currently training in a partnership with John Symons at Whiteheads Creek in country Victoria.

References

That Sheila! A straight shooter

Brain Injury Centre interview
Living people Horse trainers from Melbourne New Zealand racehorse trainers Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Sportspeople from Pontypridd Welsh emigrants to Australia Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub