Autumn Glow crowned Champion; Waller dominates
Image: Autumn Glow (Credit: Bradley Photos)
The 2025/2026 Australian Racehorse of the Year awards took place at The Winx Stand ballroom at Royal Randwick on Thursday.
Hosted by the NSW Racehorse Owners Association (NSWROA), in conjunction with Racing NSW, the awards featured a classic selection of quality throughout.
In an excellent night for champion trainer Chris Waller and Arrowfield stallion The Autumn Sun (Snitzel), star mares Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) and Joliestar (Zoustar) picked up awards, while Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun) also starred.
Autumn Glow was named Australian Horse Of The Year, claiming the honour with 110 votes from Half Yours (St Jean) (69 votes), Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior) (67 votes), Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) (66 votes) and Sir Delius (Frankel) (65 votes), and provided Waller with an incredible ninth winner of the prestigious award from the past 11.
The five-year-old daughter of The Autumn Sun was also named Champion Middle Distance horse for the season, with wins in that category coming in the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m), Verry Elleegant Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) and George Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1500m), amassing the second-most prize-money of any horse with a whopping $8,562,500.
Other victories this campaign included the Toy Show Quality (Gr 3, 1100m), Theo Marks Stakes (Gr 2, 1300m) and Apollo Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), with her only defeat in the season coming when third on her first try beyond 1600 metres in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
She returned with another rousing success just last weekend, defeating Sheza Alibi, who was crowned Champion 3YO Filly, by 1.4 lengths in a race for the ages.
“What can I say, three awards for Autumn Glow tonight. She has surpassed any dreams we had and she’s still on her way too,” Arrowfield owner John Messara said of his mare, who joins the likes of Winx (Street Cry), Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), Sunline (Desert Sun), Makybe Diva (Desert King), Nature Strip (Nicconi) and Might And Power (Zabeel) on the honour roll of Australian Champion Racehorse.
“I have a lot of people to thank including the Arrowfield team, both in head office and on the farm. We call them the A-Team, double entendre there given ‘A’ for Arrowfield but I do mean the A-Team.
“My family, who put up with a lot of excitement and nerves on my part, of course those that have made it happen on the track, Chris Waller and his team. And James McDonald, James and Autumn Glow are a couple now, they’re enjoined, and we love having him onboard. He knows her so well.”
Bred by Newhaven Park, Autumn Glow was sold as a weanling and subsequently purchased by her owners Arrowfield Pastoral and Hermitage for $1.8 million at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
She is a three-quarter sister to Newgate Farm’s Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) winner In The Congo (Snitzel), being one of two Group 1 winners from three to race out of the South African Champion Sprinter Via Africa (Var).
Messara would also go on to mention Arrowfield resident The Autumn Sun in a speech when collecting Autumn Glow’s Australian Horse Of The Year award.
Having been sold by the stud as a yearling to Eugene Chang’s Hermitage Thoroughbreds and Chris Waller for $700,000 at Inglis Easter in 2017, Arrowfield then bought back into the stallion after his racing career.
“One thing I haven’t mentioned tonight is her sire, The Autumn Sun,” Messara said.
“It’s a funny story because we bred him at Arrowfield and then we sold him as a yearling to what are now our partners as we bought back into him as a stallion, so it’s been a merry-go-round but we’re very pleased to be in with them.
“The sire himself has been an instant success virtually because it takes a sire six or seven years to become established but tonight our sire’s produce, both Autumn Glow and Autumn Boy, were recipients of awards, so thank you The Autumn Sun.”
Collecting the award on behalf of Hermitage, the operation’s bloodstock and racing manager Shannon Clarke added: “Unfortunately my boss Mr Eugene Chuang cannot be here tonight, but I know he will be watching with his young son and he’ll be over the moon that we are celebrating our stallion’s extraordinary daughter and he is so proud of the relationship he has built within Australian racing. He has put in a lot of time and effort into this and I know he’d be hugely proud.”
Another one of Waller’s star mares, Joliestar, landed Champion Sprinter honours courtesy of her victories in the T J Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), Canterbury Stakes (Gr 1, 1300m) and Expressway Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).
That total would have had every chance of being improved upon had she not taken a detour late in the season to compete at Royal Ascot, where she ran a very close third in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f).
The six-year-old daughter of Zoustar (Northern Meteor) ran out a resounding winner of the category on 142 votes over nearest rival Tempted (Street Boss) on 65 votes, with Tentyris (Street Boss) on 52 votes, joining the likes of Black Caviar, Nature Strip, Chautauqua (Encosta De Lago), Falvelon (Alannon) and Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) on the roll of honour.
“I want to thank Chris and James and the whole team at Waller Racing,” Sir Brendan Lindsay said.
“Jo and I love our racing, we have so much fun, and this horse has taken us on an amazing journey. Won two Group 1s in Melbourne, we’ve won a Group 1 in Brisbane, a couple in Sydney and she took us to Royal Ascot this year.
“She is as tough as old nails and such a warhorse and it is quite an honour to be able to join the Black Caviars and Nature Strips and all those other champion sprinters.
“We’re looking forward to when her racing career is over to get her back to Cambridge Stud and put her in the broodmare paddock and hopefully continue the journey with her.
“I never thought we’d get this far, so thank you very much everybody.”
A $950,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Cambridge Stud’s Sir Brendan and Lady Jo Lindsay from the Segenhoe Thoroughbreds draft, having been bred by Chris Barham, Joliestar currently sits on ten wins from 21 starts and over $9 million in prize-money amassed.
Waller completed his horse category treble with Autumn Boy, who grabbed the Champion 3YO Colt/Gelding title after a pair of wins in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) and runner-up finishes in the Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) and Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).
The four-year-old entire has an entry in Saturday’s Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), where he is likely to encounter the likes of elder stars Mr Brightside (Bullbars), Jimmysstar (Per Incanto), Tom Kitten (Harry Angel) and Buckaroo (Fastnet Rock).
Bred by Kiwi Richard Rutherford, he was secured for what is now a trifling sum of $200,000 by his trainer and Guy Mulcaster at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and is raced by the Ritchie family.
A winner of four of his nine starts to date, and placed in a further four of those, he has earned more than 17 times his purchase price with over $3.4 million banked.
“Glenn [Ritchie] said he wanted to save his voice and cheer him home in the Memsie instead,” Waller’s assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth said after Glenn Ritchie had accepted the award.
“Being a very proud Kiwi, when James [McDonald] broke the Group 1 record on his horse and being trained by a Kiwi trainer as well in Chris, it meant a lot to him and it’s amazing.
“An undefeated two-year-old to go and win two Guineas and only be beaten by Sheza Alibi in the autumn is fantastic all round.
“He was well selected by Guy, who has had his accolades tonight but he’ll get one again. Also Richard the breeder who is a proud South Islander as well and he follows the horse through thick and thin so hopefully he is in for a massive campaign in his four-year-old career.
“Congratulations to the other nominated horses, Godolphin had the other four which is amazing, and thanks to Chris and the crew and I’m sure the Ritchie’s will enjoy it, they have been fantastic to us.”
Sheza Alibi was predictably handed the title of Champion 3YO Filly after her resounding wins in both the Randwick Guineas and Doncaster Mile, finishing with 197 votes over Tempted on 118 votes.
The Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained four-year-old became the first filly to win the time-honoured Doncaster since Sunline back in 1999, scoring by an astonishing 4.3 lengths under Jamie Melham.
A daughter of Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) and the only winner from three foals to race out of the winning Shaft (Flying Spur) mare Sheza Gypsy, Sheza Alibi was purchased by her owner Fred Noffke for a mere $10,000 during the 2023 Inglis June (Early) Online Sale out of Middlebrook Valley.
“I need to thank the people that made a difference to Sheza Alibi,” Noffke said in his acceptance speech.
“I thank the breeders for giving me the chance to buy a horse that wasn’t related to the King of England. Cameron and Kelly Bond thought she was pretty nice when they broke her in and it just carried on, Matt Kropp had her for a couple of weeks until I decided ‘Fred, you bought horses to watch them’ and I thought Toowoomba is 650km away so I brought her home to Rockhampton.
“Anyway, she went to Kris Hansen and she got me $57,000 into my account and I thought ‘Holy moly that’s a lot of money’.
“Then of course we get down to Brisbane and go to Peter Moody and I’m not quite so sure why I thought I might have had something a bit special but I just hoped I did. It’s been a wild ride.
“Peter Moody looked under the bonnet and said she had a good engine, and Luke Nolen looked in the gearbox and said she had gears so I said let’s just let it roll.”
“I’m the most confident winner on earth so Autumn Glow brought me back down a little, so if I sound a little humble then I truly am humble and I do believe I am the luckiest person in racing and my ride could never have been anywhere near as good without Sheza Alibi and the team.”
Half Yours proved a complete revelation during the 2025-26 campaign and deservedly scooped the honour of Champion Stayer, amassing 195 votes to beat Aeliana (Castelvecchio) on a very commendable 122 votes.
The six-year-old gelding went from an impressive success in the Naturalism Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) in September to then registering back-to-back wins in the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), becoming just the 13th horse to complete the feat in the same year and finishing the season as leading earner on $9,032,450.
Owned by Australian Bloodstock, Half Yours is a son of late Brackley Park stallion St Jean (Teofilo), who died in a paddock accident just weeks after his son’s Melbourne Cup victory.
Champion 2YO went to the brilliant Golden Slipper winner Guest House (Home Affairs), his sire Home Affair’s leading light during the season and main provider for the stallion’s Champion First Season Sires title. In an era when Champion sire titles can often be shaped by one exceptional progeny or one massive payday, Home Affairs’ dominance ran far deeper – he would still have claimed the title even without the deeds of his standout first crop performer.
As well as his Slipper success, the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained colt finished third in the Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m) and runner-up in the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (Gr 3, 1100m).
Guest House garnered huge support with 191 votes, beating Blue Diamond-winning filly Streisand (Magnus) on 98 votes. Campione D’Italia (Snitzel) was third in the juveniles on a tally of 65 votes.
While Arrowfield were again back on stage when their late super sire Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) was crowned Champion Sire Of The Year, posthumously taking out his sixth award in that category.
The son of Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) racked up just over $26 million in prize-money for the season, the second-highest total of his career, and sired six individual Group 1 winners during the season; Baraqiel, Lazzura, Campione D’Italia, Fireball, Transatlantic and Marhoona.
His biggest earner for the season was Lady Shenandoah who, despite actually failing to win a race, took home $2,553,250 in prize-money with placings in races such as the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), Canterbury Stakes (Gr 1, 1300m) and Russell Balding Stakes (1300m).
“On behalf of the entire Messara and Arrowfield family I am delighted to accept this award for Snitzel” Arrowfield’s bloodstock manager Jon Freyer said.
“This evening is about celebrating all things that are great in the thoroughbred industry and Snitzel has certainly been at the forefront of that for the best part of 20 years now. Sadly we lost him last year but his story still goes on.
“It’s been said this evening a number of times that success in this business is a team effort and sometimes it is those that are least visible that are the ones responsible for that success.
“So I’d like to say a special thanks to our team at the farm, our stud manager Matt Hill, our operations manager Nigel Bentley, stud secretary Michelle Nichols, our head veterinarian Wendy Perriam, and last but not least our stallion manager Joe Hickey, who is immortalised in bronze beside his old mate outside the stallion barn.
“Snitzel was a brilliant racehorse, he was an outstanding stallion, but most of all he was just a wonderful horse that was much loved and we will be forever grateful for him.”
In the Champion Jumps horse (Victorian voters only), Stern Idol’s (Raven’s Pass) connections were called to the stage for a third time in four years, a fitting end to his remarkable career. The judges awarded Stern Idol a commanding 45 votes over Instigator (Nayef) on 18 votes and Mr Waterville (Camelot) on ten votes.
Meanwhile, the human honours on the night saw usual suspects Chris Waller and James McDonald in the spotlight.
Waller collected what was his 14th consecutive Bart Cummings Award, for Group 1 trainer of the year. The champion trainer collected 22 Group 1 wins during the course of the 2025-26 season, surpassing his previous best tally of 19 in the 2024-25 campaign.
He was also presented with his 15th Bart Cummings Medal, accumulating 148 points in the prestigious award’s point score to hold out McDonald (91pts) and Zac Lloyd (79pts), who won the Bart Cummings Medal in 2023. Waller also took home the TJ Smith Award for claiming the Sydney Trainers’ Premiership for the 16th successive occasion.
“It goes without saying that this is an unprecedented, but worthy, recognition of Chris Waller’s ongoing achievements and he has our sincerest congratulations. It’s also fitting that he receives this award after a season where he trained his 200th Group 1 winner,” said Graeme Hinton, Racing NSW acting chief executive.
“As Chris will tell you it is a team effort and to win the Bart Cummings Medal for the fifteenth time and TJ Smith award a sixteenth time underlines how effective his world class operation is.”
‘J-Mac’ is also on a run with the Group 1 Jockey Of The Year Award, collecting his sixth consecutive trophy in that category as he rode 17 Group 1 wins during the campaign, breaking the previous record of 16 wins held by Malcolm Johnston since the 1979-80 season.
McDonald also snared his tenth George Moore Award, and eighth straight, by landing the Sydney Jockeys’ Premiership with 91 winners for the season edging out Zac Lloyd (79 wins) and Tommy Berry (72).
Other NSW-based results on the night included Siena Grima, who took out her first Theo Green Award for leading Sydney apprentice with 34 wins for the season defeating last year’s winner Braith Nock (30 winners), Joe Pride winning the Caryl Williamson NSW Racing Writers’ Personality of the Year, Stephanie Alexander of the Brett & Georgie Cavanough stable landing the Sydney Strapper of the Year, and Ice Kool (Zoustar) taking home the BOBS Horses of the Year honour.