Laxon draws Ethereal comparison with Set Me Up

By Glenn Davis

Co-trainer Sheila Laxon has drawn favourable comparisons between her Melbourne Cup-winning champion Ethereal and lightly raced mare Set Me Up ahead of her return to racing at Doomben on Wednesday.

Set Me Up will be chasing her fourth consecutive win when the rising six-year-old resumes in the Benchmark 70 Handicap over 1350 metres.

Laxon, who co-trains with husband John Symons at the Sunshine Coast, is considering a Melbourne spring carnival trip with Set Me Up.

Laxon shot to prominence in Australia when Kiwi mare Ethereal won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double in 2001.

Set Me Up hasn’t started since completing a hat-trick of wins in a Benchmark Handicap race on her home track in the middle of December last year. 

The daughter of Star Witness is superbly bred as her mother, Inaflury, won the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas in 1998 and won four times at Group 2 level.

“They’ll go too quick for her and she needs ground,” Laxon said of her resuming run on Wednesday. 

“She’s got tremendous ability and she reminds me of Ethereal.

“She’s got all the right credentials but like Ethereal she needs to do her work on the hills.

“I trained Ethereal in the hills of Macedon Lodge before she won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and I may take her down there for the spring.”

Laxon, who was born in Wales, believes Set Me Up has the potential to be a top staying mare given the right training conditions.

“It’s one step at a time for the time being,” Laxon said.

“We’ll see how she goes on Wednesday but there’s a chance she may go to Melbourne.

“I’d love to see her trained up at the hills of Macedon Lodge and I think she’s got the makings of being a super staying mare.”

Laxon and Symons are also contemplating a Melbourne trip with rising star Knight’s Choice following the three-year-olds victory in the Group 3 Winx Guineas.

The training duo have a number of options to consider with Knight’s Choice including a spring campaign in Sydney and the Magic Millions carnival next year.

Set Me Up was put through the Magic Millions National broodmare mare sale at the Gold Coast in June but failed to meet her reserve.