Ronan Keating lands a chunky punt as fellow Irish singer rides to Melbourne Cup glory

Seldom can the Cup have runneth over with so many extraordinary stories.

For the four challengers from Britain and Ireland, all of them strongly fancied, there was nothing but disappointment, yet this was a Lexus Melbourne Cup full of cheer for both countries, even allowing for the fact the shock 90-1 winner Knight's Choice is very much all Aussie.

To be exact – and, strange as it might sound, all that follows is true – winning jockey Robbie Dolan is an Irishman better known for singing, having two years ago been among the final 24 contestants on Australia's version of The Voice. It was also in 2022 that he provided the musical warm-up act before the Cox Plate and performed on a Melbourne Cup cruise ship, where he met Welsh one-time racing secretary Sheila Laxon, who once drove a double-decker bus in Dover before emigrating to New Zealand and then Australia, where in 2001 she won the Melbourne Cup with Ethereal. Thanks to Knight's Choice, Dolan and her training (and life) partner John Symons, she now has another.