Group 1 breakdown: Season 2019/20

The breakdown paints an excellent picture of diversity of the Australian industry, with the 59 individual winners of Group 1 races in Australia this season representing 45 different sires, 51 different breeders, 38 different trainers and 36 different jockeys.

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The leading Group 1-winning sire of the season is recently pensioned Arrowfield Stud stallion Not A Single Doubt, with four individual Group 1 winners. They are Golden Slipper S. winner Farnan, G1 Vinery Stud S. victor Shout The Bar as well as Scales Of Justice (Memsie S.) and Samadoubt (Winx S.) .

All in all, there were 16 stallions who had multiple Group 1 successes during this season. The five who had three Group 1 wins all benefitted from one of their progeny winning multiple top flight races, including Widden Stud's Nicconi, whose gun sprinter Nature Strip looks poised for Australian Horse Of The Year honours having been the only horse to be a triple Group 1 victor.

Coolmore's Pierro (two from Shadow Hero, one from Regal Power), former Arrowfield stallion Redoute's Choice (two from King's Legacy, one from Alabama Express) Darley's legendary Exceed And Excel (two from Bivouac, one from Exceedance) and Pivotal (GB) (two from Addeyyb (Ire), one from Avilius (GB)) all had three Group 1 wins.

There were three stallions who will be on Australian stud rosters in 2020 who had two Group 1 wins through the season, I Am Invincible, Written Tycoon and Dundeel (NZ) as well as Ocean Park (NZ), who stands in New Zealand. Other stallions with multiple wins were Blackfriars, Commands, Declaration Of War (USA), Deep Impact (Jpn), Galileo (Ire) and Scat Daddy (USA).

Table: Leading Sires by Group 1 wins in Australia 2019/20

The source

Of the 68 Group 1 races, 25, or around 37 per cent, were won by horses which were bred outside of Australia. New Zealand led the way with 10 individual winners. Horses bred in Ireland won seven Group 1s, a record five were bred in Japan, while Con Te Partiro's (USA) dual successes gave the USA two wins, and Great Britain had one.

The breakdown of the remaining 43 Group 1 races won by Australian-bred horses saw 26 of them won by horses bred in New South Wales, six in Victoria, five in Queensland, five in Western Australia and one in South Australia. It should be noted that for the purposes of this state by state breakdown, the location of the breeder as per Studbook is used, as opposed to where the horse may have been foaled.

Table: Country of birth - Group 1 wins in Australia 2019/20

Darley/Godolphin proved the season's most successful Group 1 breeders, with six Group 1 wins, all of which were trained by James Cummings, Bivouac (twice), Colette, Flit, Trekking and Avilius (GB) (albeit internationally-bred).

Arrowfield bred or co-bred three Group 1 winners, Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Dundeel's (NZ) sons, Super Seth and Castelvecchio, while Golden Grove Stud had three Group 1 wins through its star graduate Nature Strip.

Going back a step further in terms of breeding to the broodmare sires, and former Arrowfield barnmates Hussonet (USA) and Redoute's Choice shared the honours with four wins apiece. Redoute's Choice has had his best ever season as a broodmare sire, with 20 stakes winners from his mares, including Group 1 winners Super Seth, Flit, Regal Power and Trekking. Hussonet's four wins as a broodmare sire came from King's Legacy (twice) and Saturday's Eagle Farm double of Tyzone and Rothfire.

All in all, there were 47 broodmare sires represented among the 68 winners of the races, again underlining the diversity of Australian racing. Desert Sun (GB), thanks to Nature Strip, and Street Cry (Ire), with Con Te Partiro (2) and Farnan, both had three wins each.

Table: Leading Broodmare Sires by Group 1 wins in Australia 2019/20

Pricepoints run the full gamut

When we break down the Group 1 winners by price point, we see Magic Wand (Ire) as the most expensive, having cost €1.4 million (AU$2.26 million) at the Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale. King's Legacy, a $1.4 million purchase for James Harron at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, was the most expensive of the Group 1 winners at an Australian sale.

The cheapest horse sold through the ring to win a Group 1 in Australia this season was G1 Doncaster Mile winner Nettoyer (Sebring), who fetched $20,000 through the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

JJ Atkins S. winner Rothfire was purchased privately for $10,000 by Robert Heathcote on behalf of his clients (although Heathcote would end up paying $20,000 as the first $10,000 was lost in an online scam).

Easter heads graduates list

In terms of the most successful sales, graduates from the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale won nine Group 1 races. Those winners were Loving Gaby (2), Funstar, Super Seth, Exceedance, Alabama Express, Dreamforce, Quick Thinker and Nettoyer.

Graduates from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale had seven Group 1 wins, with two from King's Legacy, as well as victories from Alligator Blood, Farnan, Shout The Bar, Tagaloa and Bella Vella.

Horses sold through the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale had six wins, three from Nature Strip and one each from Scales Of Justice, Gytrash and Hey Doc while Tyzone was passed in through that sale.

The Inglis Classic Sale also had six Group 1 wins from its graduates, thanks to two from Shadow Hero and single wins from Samadoubt, Vow And Declare, Pippie and Castelvecchio.

New Zealand Bloodstock's yearling sales series at Karaka also had six Group 1 wins, Kolding (NZ), Melody Belle (NZ), Miami Bound (NZ), Probabeel (NZ), Toffee Tongue (NZ) and Te Akau Shark (NZ). Fellow NZ-breds Tofane (NZ) and The Bostonian (NZ) were both entered in the Karaka sales but were withdrawn prior.

Bella Vella created her own piece of history, being the first Group 1 winner to have been sold through the Inglis Digital Sales format, where she cost just $22,500, while Tyzone is the latest Group 1 graduate from the Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs In Training Sale. The Magic Millions Perth and Adelaide Yearling Sales also had graduates on the Group 1 list, as did the Inglis Great Southern Sale and the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale.

Waller, Williams take Group 1 honours

Chris Waller finished the Group 1 season as the leading trainer with nine wins, three clear of Cummings, while Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott had four top-flight winners, and Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Danny O'Brien and Jamie Richards had three each. There were a further eight trainers with two Group 1 winners.

In terms of the leading jockeys, Craig Williams led the way in season 2019/20 with six Group 1 wins, while Hugh Bowman, James McDonald and Opie Bosson had five apiece. Glen Boss and Tim Clark had four each, while John Allen and Mark Zahra had three. A further five jockeys had two wins.

Table: Leading trainers by Group 1 wins in Australia 2019/20